Picking Up The Pieces
by estrellaz
Summary: AU. Seperated at the age of 18, Hinata had lost the one boy and friend who truly loved and cared for her. Now, she is a full grown woman and hopes on meeting him again grows thinner by every day. That is until she meets her new boss of course. [NaruHina]
1. Rejection and Appreciation

**A/N:** Hey everybody! This is my FIRST ever Naruto fanfic (well, actually my first ever fic on this site) and I'm really psyched about this! I have many ideas for this little devil and I can't wait to write it down. Sorry if the characters are a little bit weird here but I don't watch Naruto and I just get info from my friends that are all Naruto crazy. Hehe! Enough jibber jabber, read on and please remember to review!

**Pairings: Naruto/Hinata – Sasuke/Sakura – Neji/Tenten – Shikamaru/Ino – minor Kakashi/Anko and possible onesided Gaara/Hinata later on.**

**Warning: Slightly OOC but not too much. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Sad isn't it?**

'blah' – speaking

'_blah'_ – japanese words/flashbacks/emphasis

'_**blah'**_ - thoughts

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Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter One

"I'm sorry, Hyuuga-san. The qualities you have listed down in this resume isn't enough for the job you're applying for. I suggest you try another company that suits your ability. I am deeply sorry."

A sigh escaped her lip as she closed her eyes for a while then opened them back. She nodded slowly and got up, trying to hide her disappointment from being shown. It failed terribly though. She bowed stiffly and clutched her hands together. "_Arigatou_… I appreciate you freeing your time for me…" and with those words, she left in silence. The manager held a rather sad expression. He pitied the girl for he could definitely see she desperately needed a job. If he had the power to assign jobs to random people, he would've taken her in. But sadly, he didn't. _**I hope she has better luck next time…**_

As soon as she exited the room, Hinata cupped her face into her hands. She was clearly _tired_ – tired of rejection, tired of not being accepted, tired of hearing the word 'no' and was most definitely tired that she couldn't help the people she cared about. How pathetic she felt. She couldn't even get a good job. She couldn't even help her friends that were having financial problems yet still taking her in – to them, friends matter more then themselves.

She leaned her back onto a wall nearby and slided down, landing on her knees. She raised her head and closed her eyelids shut. Maybe she was destined to be a failure…

"_I knew you couldn't do it… I knew someone like you would give up easily…"_

Those words wouldn't stop ringing in her head. No matter how many times she tried to prove those lines wrong, her father's voice would blast through her mind and slashed every single hope she had. However, she couldn't deny her father's words. She was always known to give up easily. It was in her nature. She was a shy girl, no denying that neither and she had little confidence in herself. But one person changed that about her…

"_Hinata-chan, don't give up! I have faith that you'll always find a way to fix things. Ganbatte ne?"_

That sweet voice, those sweet words whispered by him to her ears. It was still so clear in her mind – even if they were spoken to her five years ago. _Five_ long years have passed by and they hadn't talked at all. She could still see his cheesy grin, his silly hair and his crazy choice of outfits. She could still hear his squeal of delight when one offers a box of ramen to him. She could even still smell the shampoo he used to use – a dash of strawberry with a mixture of honey. She couldn't help but stain her cheeks red upon remembering him.

They were close friends. Neighbors to be exact. At the age of five, she was shy at first but he broke her barrier and saved her from solitude – showing her the joy of life. She got out of her shell a little and together, they formed a beautiful friendship. A friendship that lasted for thirteen years. After that, it was just history… Hinata missed him. She missed her first best friend. She missed him a lot.

The only boy that gave her the strength to get on with life.

But he wasn't there anymore. He was forced to leave her, moving off somewhere and gone from her life. Now, she had no one to supply the will to carry on. Her family wasn't an option. She had ran away from home since she was eighteen and hadn't contacted any of them in five years. The last person she talked with was her cousin – they were having a little argument. That's why she relied on her friends for support and shelter at that time. That was why it was important for her to repay them.

However, the only reason she's still standing still is because she promised him. She promised to always fight, no matter how tough life gets at you. She promised that she'd be stronger and more confident. She had to throw away the old her - the shy, timid, lack of confidence self. With that new determined glint in her milky white eyes, she slowly stood up and gave a small grin.

"I… won't give up!"

The steps of boots and the sounds of her jacket brushing against her body was heard and then she was gone.

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"_Tadaima_."

Hinata opened the door, a gush of wind entering along with her before she shut it close. She slid off her jacket and hung it on the coat rack, feeling a little sense of silence around the apartment she shared with her other three friends. Her boots made no sound as they gently pressed on the fur rug one of her roommates bought. The blonde was always one for decorations.

"Sakura-chan… Ino-chan… Tenten-chan…?"

Apparently, they weren't home for usually, the shrieks of Sakura and Ino bickering could be heard as soon as she entered the room. Hinata smiled to herself and walked towards her quarters – noting that no one was home. She opened the door only to step back with a gasp escaping her lips.

"SURPRISE!"

It _definitely_ surprised her. Inside her room, Sakura, Ino and Tenten stood with party hats on their heads and balloons littered her once neat room. Hinata snapped her eyes wide open as she absorbed all the changes that were made to her room. Streamers were hung and a banner was floating above her head. She turned to her friends and saw a nice chocolate cake behind them, with words jaggedly scribbled on top with red icing.

"_Minna_… what's all this?" she asked, shocked expression clearly drawn on her fragile face. Sakura giggled and went to her, linking their arms together. "We did a surprise party, especially for you Hinata-chan!"

"M-Me?"

"Yeah, you silly. Now stop doing that stupid look and get your butt here to enjoy some cake with us!" said Ino with a smirk on her face. Tenten threw some confetti in the air and clapped her hands with delight, grabbing Hinata's hands and pulling her in. The ebony haired girl was forced to sit down in front of her supposedly study desk and was face to face with the delicious cake. Now that she was near, she could read what the icing spelt.

'_Ganbatte Hinata-chan! We know you can do it!'_

Hinata gulped. Not understanding at first but she finally comprehended the message. If she could, she would cry a river to those sweet words. Though rather sloppy, they meant the world to her. She knew her friends would always have her back. They had known each other for a long time and though they were different by every way, they still had each other's backs and that was one of the reasons Hinata was proud to have such great pals.

Sakura came beside her and grinned. "We know how hard you've been working lately, Hinata-chan. We just wanna let you know, no matter how much you fall down, we'll be there to help you rise back up."

"Totally, you can count on us!" beamed Tenten with a playful smile on her pink lips. "Don't worry. You'll get a job soon. I know you can do it!"

"Yeah and if anyone dares to fire you after this, I'll personally go and give them a piece of my mind," joked Ino, the blonde girl adding a wink later. Hinata sunk lower in her seat, feeling shy with all the love and concern her friends were pouring on her. She was speechless to this. After what her friends have done for her before this, Hinata felt so touched that they added this into their list of nice things.

"I-I… I don't know what to say…"

The girls frowned. They sensed Hinata was having her guilt trip again. They immediatey knew how to cheer her up. Giving a nod to each other, they grabbed her and quickly tickled her all over her body. Hinata laughed and tried to escape their grasp but she was cornered and there was no escape.

The four were all laughing and giggled upon seeing their friend's face turn red and laughing her heart off. After a minute or so, they decided to release her and flopped on the bed – tired from all the laughing. Hinata smiled to herself. _**What would I do without you guys?**_

"Hey, I didn't strive my butt in that kitchen to bake a freaking cake only to have it watched. Let's dig in!" said Ino and the other three joined in eagerly. "_Itadakimasu_!" they cheered and the night was filled with the giggles of four close friends and the burps initiating they were full as well.

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"Uzumaki-sama, here are the reports you wanted me to hand to you."

The young man glanced up and took the papers from the black haired man. "_Arigatou_ Aburame-san. It's a little bit late, don't you think? Why're you still here?"

Shino pushed back his black glasses and maintained a stern expression. "Well, your personal assistant has just resigned therefore I, as the Uzumaki family's assistant, have to take responsibility of this."

A groan was heard. "Another one resigned?" The young Uzumaki frowned and rubbed his temples. Working non-stop for over ten hours was not good for his body. To top it all off, the person who was in charge with his office meetings, calls, files and such had just quit. Great. Absolutely great. She wasn't really much of an assistant anyway.

"Aburame-san?"

"_Hai_…?"

"Get me a new assistant," stated the man, standing up and ruffling his blonde hair with his hand. "And make sure this one is more obedient then the last one." His lips remained still as he packed up his things and stuffed them messily into his briefcase. Shino nodded as a sign of understandment. The young man gave a smile and told his faithful helper that he could go home. Shino bowed with respect and left the Uzumaki office.

He sat down on his chair, eyes tired and drooping. The blond loosened his tie – damn thing was irritating him. A vibration sent him a little startled as he fished out his cell phone from his suit's pocket and flipped it open. "_Moshi moshi_?"

"Oi, _baka_, you'd better get your ass home fast. The guys are here and Neji is beating everyone's sorry ass in Blackjack."

He smiled – he could sense Shikamaru's irritation through his voice with Neji boasting on his card skills. "I'll be there soon. Need to lock up and stuff. Just hang on till then."

"You'd better speed it up a little. Sasuke's not really much help and you can never rely on Chouji for a card game."

He laughed and bade his friend goodbye, closing the phone and stuffed it back into his pocket. Standing up, he grabbed his car keys along with his other belongings and left the room. At least he had something to do when he got to the mansion he shared with his three other friends that grew up with him. Life was much more fun when he was just a simple boy.

Not the _heir_ to the Shinobi enterprises.

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The next morning came by faster then she expected as Hinata yawned silently. She sat up, stretched her limp arms and heaved a sigh. Another morning, another hopeful day to obtain something in her life. Her feet crawled over to the side of her bed and she slid on her slippers – a pair of pale blue bunny flip flops with soft fur covering them. Her feet shuffled towards the bathroom but as soon as she stepped out of her room, a scream was heard.

Hinata snapped wide awake and rushed towards the source, which happened to be in the kitchen. She reached there and saw her friends crowded around the kitchen table with a newspaper spreaded on the table. Hinata walked over to them and gave them a curious expression. "I heard a scream. Did something happen?"

Sakura raised her head and gave a big grin, walking over to the ebony haired girl and shoved the newspaper in front of Hinata's face. "We have great news, Hinata-chan! We have found the most perfect job for you!"

"Oh…? And what would that be?"

"Read it and see for yourself," commented Tenten and smiled to herself. Hinata took the paper and read it. On the page, there was a full page column, telling the public that a job vacancy was available. Hinata read the description and cringed slightly, feeling a little strange reading this. "Umm… a secretary?"

Sakura nodded and clasped her hands together. "It's perfect for you! You have all the qualities they want. You're smart, you love to type, you're good in sorting things, you're unbelievably obedient, it pays well, what else could you ask for?" Hinata didn't know wether to take that as a flattery comment or an insult.

"Plus, you'll be working for Shinobi enterprises!" exclaimed Ino, a smirk engraved on her lips. Hinata raised an eyebrow to this. "Shinobi enterprises?"

"It's a well known company that has many industries under it like agriculture, security protection and many others!"

"Hinata-chan, if you give up this opportunity, you're wasting a good chance. Don't throw this golden opportunity away!" said Tenten. Hinata lowered her head and fumbled with her fingers a little. She had to agree, it did sound good to her but one thing made her feel scared. One thing that always made her heart crumble.

Rejection…

What if she got rejected by one of the biggest company in the whole of Konoha. It would be so embarrassing! Sakura noticed this and held the girl's hands, showing that she was giving Hinata all the support she needed. Hinata glanced to her friends and saw they all had smiles on their faces. Confidence began building up in her body and she bit her lip as she nodded vigorously.

"Alright… I-I'll try my best!"

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There ya go! I know, slightly boring but this is my first fic so pity me! xD Next chap would probably focus on the Naruto's life since this chap kinda explained Hinata's. Don't worry, their history will be unfolded and it'll all make sense. Well, hopefully I kept the characters alright and not really, majorly OOC and I know it's a bit weird of me putting Shino as the Uzumaki's assistant but I had to put someone and Shino suits the most. He doesn't talk a lot and he's slightly distant yet caring a bit as well. Please review and tell me what you think of this and please, no flames. Constructive criticsm is appreciated. So, please press the button and **review, review, REVIEW!!!!**

Next chapter: Hinata goes to her interview and receives _many_ surprises there.

Japanese words:-

- arigatou : thank you

- ganbatte : good luck

- tadaima : I'm home

- minna : everybody

- itadakimasu : thank you for the meal

- hai : yes

- moshi moshi : hello

- baka : idiot

_- estrellaz - _


	2. Meetings and Greetings

**A/N:** So sorry for this late update. My darn intenet connection had a few glitches but it's all fixed now. I actually finished this a while ago. Anywho, THANK YOU SO MUCH to my chapter 1 reviewers – cagalli20, symbiotic, darktank, Rasengan Fin, Hannyu Arashi, Chigatana and Han-Ko. You all gave me the support I need along with good and useful advice and I'm surprised a lot have put this fic on story alert. I hope all of you continue to support me and this fic as well! Without further ado, here is chapter 2!

**Pairings: Naruto/Hinata – Sasuke/Sakura – Neji/Tenten – Shikamaru/Ino – minor Kakashi/Anko and possible onesided Gaara/Hinata later on.**

**Warning: Slightly OOC but not too much. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not even the smexy Sasuke. Sigh, how I long to own you… xD**

'blah' – speaking

'_blah_' – japanese words/flashback/emphasis

'_**blah**_' – thoughts

* * *

  
Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter Two

"Ano… Ino-chan… is this all _really _necessary?"

Hinata gazed with widened misty white eyes to her reflection on the fragile glass in front of her. Or what seemed to be her reflection. She looked as though a whirlwind had come and caused destruction onto her features. Her usual chapped lips were smothered with the color of deep red blood, her slight pale cheeks were tainted with layers of never ending blush, her eyelashes were softly pulled out – making them seem longer and her straight ebony hair was forced into a tight ponytail with her bangs hanging loosely in front of her small forehead.

Ino stroked her chin with a satisfied smirk carved on her lips, feeling utterly pleased with her masterpiece. "See, even a dull stone can look like a sparkling diamond after it's shined. You look gorgeous, hun." Hinata raised an eyebrow, wondering whether Ino truly knew the definition of beauty. Probably not judging by the 'masterpiece' she had created.

The sounds of the door being forcefully opened caused the two to turn towards the source. Sakura took one look at the totally ruined face of her timid friend and shot a deathly glare to the blond across the room. "_Teme_, Ino! What did you do to Hinata-chan!?" The young Yamanaka shut her eyelids and held a cocky grin on her glowing face, fists on her slender hips. "I just gave her the famous Yamanaka Ino makeover. Of course, I doubt someone like _you_ can grasp the concept of true beauty, ne Sakura-chan?"

A pillow met with the face of the golden haired girl – providing an answer to her own previous question.

A bad tempered Sakura slowly walked over to a stunned Hinata and grabbed a nearby cloth to wash away the fakeness plastered on her features. "You don't need all this to impress the interviewer, Hinata-chan," whispered Sakura, wearing a sincere grin on her lips. "Just focus on being you. I'm sure they'll accept the real you then this imposter. Agree?" Said girl hung her head a little, feeling a sense of fear crawling silently inside of her.

_**That's what I'm afraid of… No one really ever liked the real me…**_

"Now, get ready. The interviews in an hour and being late will cost you the job."

"… _Arigatou_ Sakura-chan…" Hinata mumbled. She wouldn't know what would happen if Sakura wasn't their to help her stand tall. The jade eyes of Sakura sparkled as she gave a wink to her companion and dragged the hot tempered Ino along with her – both exiting the small yet comfortable quarters of Hinata.

She heaved a deep and long sigh before standing up and began to get dressed. Today was going to be a long one. She could feel it with her beating heart. But for some reason, she felt a sort of uneasiness as well. She was going to have something unexpected fate meeting her that sunny Thursday.

* * *

The rays of sunlight illuminated his dark room as one of his servants pulled back the velvet curtains, revealing a warm and welcoming day to the tired man. Naruto fluttered an eye open, his head tempted to lie forever on the soft leather coated pillow beneath him. Cursing under his breath, he raised his head and covered it with his red and gold covers. It seems that when you invite your friends for a game of cards, it goes on forever until each and every one of them are satisfied. Unfortunately, Naruto's friends and himself are very hard to be satisfied. 

"Uzumaki-sama, would you like to have your breakfast in bed or would you care to consume your meal in the dining room with the others?" asked one of the maids. Naruto blinked a few times in attempt to wash the drowsiness away. He quickly sat up and stretched his cramped limbs, feeling like a feline when he did so. "… I'll join the rest. Prepare a hot bath for me."

"_Hai_. _Sumimasen_," responded the maid and bowed respectively as she went to do as she was told. Naruto yawned again – covering his open mouth with a tanned hand and swung his legs over his bed. The soft fabric of his Italian-made carpet that was designed _especially_ for him sent tingles up his leg. With a swift motion, he got up – clad in just a pair of orange boxers and went towards the tainted glassed window. His steps were slow and he moved as though he were drowsy. His head ached with pain due to the fact of drinking too much sake.

The blond reached the glass and he raised a hand – pressing it softly onto the breakable object. "… Another dream about her…" Lately, he's been having certain dreams that seemed to link together by an invincible chain. He could still vividly see her. Her shy yet sweet smile, her beautiful glass eyes that mirrored her fragility, her wondrous raven hair that flew along with her movements, her soft giggle that sounded so angelic through his ears, her glowing features that shone over any other source of light – simply her, the mysterious girl.

Naruto brushed his rough fingers callously through his yellow locks, heart beating at a cheetah's pace just by thinking of her. For the past few months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and even _seconds_, her image and voice haunted his every will. No matter how much he tried, she would always appear in his mind – one way or another. He had racked his brain for countless times on trying to figure out this hidden identity.

Though she was not so visible, he could faintly make out her slim figure and her petite face. She seemed around the age of going into adulthood. As some would call it, her late teens. But _why_… why was he dreaming and going mad over someone he doesn't even know? Why was he hearing her voice and driving himself insane with the urge to meet and know that girl? He was completely confused. Naruto was never one to keep his problems to himself at times. He preferred a friend's advice. So he turned to his close mates.

Of course, when he had spoken his worries and troubling problem, they simply laughed it off and told him he was just working too hard. Naruto too laughed along and agreed with them (as usual) but even pressure or stress couldn't make him this tense until he would continuously dream about her. Whatever it is, she must be someone important. _**I gotta know who she is…**_ But he had made one conclusion though. Whoever she was, they must've known each other before that stupid-

"Uzumaki-sama, your bath is ready."

Naruto snapped out from building castles in the air and turned to give a firm nod to the polite girl. She gave a quick bow and left without another word. Upon seeing he was once alone, he puckered his lips and drew in a deep breath before letting out all his stress – along with the air – and chuckled devilishly to himself.

"Mystery girl… Who _are_ you…?"

* * *

Konoha seemed pretty busy on that day as the streets were completely covered by the rushing citizens from all ages scrambling around like ants in a container filled with sugar. Hinata observed the bustling view through the clear window of the convenient taxi she was currently situated in. Although the streets may be littered with humans, she couldn't avert her gaze from the crystal clear sky hanging above her head with clumps of puffy white clouds gathering at different spots on the blue canvas. It all pointed to a beautiful day ahead of her – she silently prayed her luck would match the day as well. 

The circular tires of the taxi skidded to an abrupt halt – causing the poor girl to meet her forehead with the headboard of the seat that was in front of her. She whimpered mutely and fished her slender fingers into the small compartments of her navy jacket – Ino had picked it, saying it matched the Hyuuga's eyes - and pulled out a few bills. Handing them to the driver politely, she bade him farewell with a word of gratitude following suit. As she closed the door of the vehicle and watched it drive away, she inhaled a gust of air and let it out slowly.

"This is it…" she muttered to herself and leant her head back as she was stunned with awe to the tall and magnificent building in front of her. On the top of the building, there were gigantic letters that were completely covered with the colors of fine gold forming the word 'Shinobi Enterprises' that gleamed under the blinding heat of the sun. She gulped a chunk of saliva nervously and fiddled with the resume she had brought along with her. This facility seemed pretty important.

Crossing her fingers with wishes and determination drawn on her face, she marched forward and entered the building – bringing along the air of hope trailing behind her. As soon as she stepped into the building, she gasped mentally with surprise to how huge the facility was on the inside. She was appalled by the decorations and the design of the building and couldn't help but stay struck there and admire the interior design. "Wow… _sugoi!_"

Until a sense of heat with a mixture of pain tingled on her wrist.

She yelped with a startled look in her eyes and held her pained wrist. The tips of her fingers became wet as she realized brown droplets were scattered on her skin. She then slowly looked in front and had her eyes locked with a pair of soft light emerald eyes that held a sense of loneliness and solitude engulfing them. Hinata was immediately transfixed with the inner beauty the irises captured and unknowingly stared into them for awhile – feeling herself getting drowned and getting pulled into them deeper and deeper.

"… Are you trying to show that you're stupid and blind!?" snarled his hoarse and deep voice.

Hinata quickly came out from her dreamy gaze and realized she had caused his coffee to spill – thus resulting on her pained wrist. She parted her lips to speak out an apology or even a word at least but it seemed he had put her under a mute spell. She couldn't fathom on why. Bowing down, she humbly said, "_G-Gomen_… I-I shouldn't h-have stood there…" She tried to wipe the spilt coffee off his blazer but he slapped her hand away. He gave out a scoff and threw his polystyrene cup to the ground and hardly pressed his branded shoe on top of it – Hinata winced as she heard it being crushed.

"Psh… waste of my time…" and with those harsh words, he casually and purposely bumped shoulders with the stunned girl and marched away, causing the little audience he had managed to attract to disperse. She closed her eyes and bit down on her lower lips softly. _**Baka, your first time here and you've already made a bad reputation. Baka!**_

"_Daijoubu ka_?" came a soft yet demanding voice ahead of her. Hinata raised her head and was met with a blond female whose hair was tied up into an appealing hairstyle. She was having a wide smirk on her lips and her eyes had a tinge of kindness in them. She was fanning herself with a pale colored fan that had three dots on them and she oddly resembled the man she previously had an encounter with.

"…_H-Hai_… _Arigatou_." Hinata mumbled and bowed respectively. The woman smiled sincerely this time and spreaded her fingers and placed her warm palm on Hinata's trembling shoulder. "You'll have to forgive my brother. He's a little… hard-headed," joked the golden haired female. "Not to mention rude."

Hinata smiled weakly at this. The blond then held out a hand and grinned playfully. "Temari. At your service."

The navy haired girl hesitated at first but complied – afraid that Temari would say something frightening like her brother – and took Temari's hand into hers. "H-Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata." As soon as Temari heard the name 'Hyuuga', the tips of her lips lowered a little, forming her lips into a straight line. _**So, she's a Hyuuga…**__**Wonder why Neji never mentioned he had a relative in Konoha…**_Temari decided to interrogate the man later. "Well then Hyuuga-san, what brings you here to Shinobi Enterprises?"

"A-Ano… I have an interview… for the secretary position."

"Secretary position? Oh, you mean as Uzuzmaki-san's secretary? That's wonderful! Why don't you follow me then? I had to go to his office anyway." Hinata bowed with gratitude, having a smile carved on her lips and followed the blond. _**At**__**least some people here are friendly…**_ But for an unknown and acceptable reason, she just couldn't seem to banish the image of those soft emerald eyes that man had… They looked so lonely…

Shaking her head, she hurried to catch up with Temari and focused back on her nerve-wrecking purpose of coming here in the first place.

* * *

"Well, this is Uzumaki-san's office," said Temari and opened the double glass doors that acted as the barrier from all the noises outside. Hinata couldn't help but gasp once more upon seeing how huge the room was. With soft light blue painted walls that had calm patterns drawn over them, a long and never ending solid proof window that displayed the town's view perfectly, a beautiful aquarium that became the habitat for millions of different type of marine animals and facilities that provided every single pleasurement needed. 

"_Gomen_, Hyuuga-san but I have to go and meet with my other little brother, Kankuro now. Knowing him, he's probably bragging about something to the lady workers here. Ja ne!"

With a nod and a shy giggle, Hinata watched as the blond faded from her sight. She was all alone now. She took this free time – as she waited anxiously for the manager to arrive – to explore every inch of the room. Her sneakers made no sound as her shoe slowly pressed onto the fur rug beneath her. She walked casually towards the window and smiled widely, pressing her nose and smudging the glass with her blush that her dear pink haired friend had slightly applied for her. The town looked so small from her view.

"_Dare ka_?"

Hinata nearly jumped to the sudden voice that was heard from behind her. The hairs behind her neck stood out in response to the shock she felt. Turning around abruptly, she was surprised to see a man with wild spiky dark hair and curiously seemed to have a mysterious aura stenching from him. The man's eyes were covered by the black lenses of the spectacles he had in front of them. He held his head high – showing his status that seemed pretty high. Hinata gasped quietly. _**Oh no! Is he some sort of CIA or something? Is he gonna arrest me for entering the boss's office without permission? **_

"I do not favor on repeating myself constantly. _Dare ka_?"

She felt the pressure building up above her and pressing her down. "A-An-Ano… I-I ha-have an interview scheduled today… with Uzumaki-san…"

The man raised an eyebrow as though finding this a little surprising but returned to his normal stare and moved his hand towards his waist. She could sense he was going to pull out something. The ebony haired girl hastily shut her eyelids closed, bracing herself for the upcoming attack she had imagined. She was mentally praying that the man in front of her wasn't going to pull out a lethal weapon and take away her life at that very moment. _**Oh no! Is this really the end?**_

"Uzumaki-sama, a young lady claims that she is currently present inside your office for… inquiries about your secretary vacancy. An interview as so she claims."

Her heart pace began to move at a steady pace once more. She slowly lifted open one of her eyes and then looked towards the young man, hearing him muttering a few words and nodding occasionally as he conversed with someone on the other line on his portable phone. Hinata heaved a sigh of relief and chuckled nervously – feeling silly for imagining such ridiculous things. _**Mental note to self, never watch anymore murder films with Tenten**_ After a few minutes passed by, she heard a quick snap and she was once face to face with the 'scary' man.

"Uzumaki-sama is currently unable to arrive on time as his vehicle has been trapped in an unexpected condition. He has required me to attend to your needs and continue the interview myself." He then walked a few steps behind and pulled open one of the clear glass doors, turning his head to the confused girl. "Shall we?"

Hinata nodded and followed obediently.

* * *

"So, Hyuuga-san, what caused the up rise of your intention on applying for this job?" 

The ebony haired girl couldn't help but raise the corner of her lips and formed a shy smile as her mind replayed back the excitement and cheers her mates had given to her earlier yesterday morning. "W-Well, as you can see on my resume, I think I have all of the necessities you have stated on your ad and… to be honest… being a secretary has never crossed my mind even once." She ended her words with a small and short giggle.

Shino – finally finding out his name from the cheerful and respectful greetings that the workers gave – raised one of his thin eyebrows and leaned in closer from his position to the trembling girl. Hinata was never good with people bursting her personal bubble. Therefore, she cowered into her seat a little, hearing her own breathing hasten. "If that's the case, please state your actual purpose of wanting to apply for this vacancy if being a secretary doesn't suit your interest."

Hinata lowered her head, blocking the black haired man's gaze from her own. "I live with three other grown women, all single and unmarried. We have grown up together, been with each other since we could even walk on our own two feet. They have always been there for me… always bringing me up when I fell… I want to do something to repay their kindness. So, I decided to help financially, besides supporting their every move of course. I'd even make money by collecting rubbish if I had to. Nothing else really matters to me… I just want to help my friends…"

"Hyuuga-san, are you honestly claiming that the only purpose of you interviewing is because you wish to support your friends… financially…? Is that the occasion here?"

Hinata used her upper teeth to slowly bite the flesh of her lower lip as her fingers curled around her shirt, grabbing every inch of fabric she could grab. _**Why am I so stupid? Why did I give such a stupid reason? Why?**_ She could foresee the answer Shino was going to give her. Her skin was tingling and her heart began to beat with anticipation but her spirit was already crushed for she could feel rejection crawling ever so slowly and making its way into her head.

Before she could give him a chance to crush her personally, she stood up and bowed stiffly. "_Arigatou_, Aburame-san. Thank you for making time for me." Whirling on her heels, she walked as fast as she could, wanting to leave this place and find a small corner where she could easily shed her salty tears and feel the pain of being pushed away once more. But before she could open the door where her fingers were curled around it's metal handle, she heard a gruff response.

"_Shuugi_, Hyuuga-san. You got the job."

Her eyes widened with surprise engulfing her milky irises. Her head slowly began to turn behind as her jaw dropped wide open with shock. Shino stood with a smile and bowed respectively. "Welcome to Shinobi Enterprises. I am the Uzumaki's personal assistant. Pleased to meet your acquaintance."

Hinata was paralyzed - her every limb felt drained by those simple words. Had she heard correctly? Was she in another world? Was her mind playing games with her poor soul? She pinched herself secretly to make sure and regretted it later, rubbing her sore skin. She couldn't contain her excitement but she maintained her posture – not wanting to seem like a person who had some problems with their mind in front of Shino. She bowed as well and smiled widely, an extra brightness surrounding her grin.

"_Arigatou_, Aburame-san! I-I… I won't let you down!"

"It is not me you have to please. It is our manager. Hopefully, by what you have stated in your resume, you'll provide excellent service for our young boss. _Ganbatte_ on your new employment."

"_H-Hai_! _Domo_ a_rigatou_!" and with that she left, a jump inserted in her walk outside. Shino couldn't help but shake his head with a chuckle emitting from his voice. As soon as Hinata was out from the view of Shino, she jumped up and down with happiness, clapping and humming with joy. She had forgotten how to experience such hyperness. Her heart was pummeling against her chest – a mixture of relief and excitement. She twirled on her heel and began doing a small victory dance, expressing how much she felt accomplished and satisfied.

Her prayers were finally answered. She had finally gotten a job! Wait till she told the girls back ho-

BUMP!

Her body had collided with something that was hard yet soft at the same time. She collapsed on the ground, groaning and muttering to herself. _**Why am I being so clumsy today**_ She attempted to stand and apologize but for some reason, her energy felt drained. Like a TV screen, she felt everything going static, feeling the world spinning around and finally turned blank. It lasted for a few seconds only though. Fluttering her eyelids, her sight was still very blurry and non-clear. Plus, she could feel someone holding the back of her head as well as her body.

She could faintly see that he had yellow spiky hair and she could slightly capture the azure color in his eyes. Her vision finally regained completely and she was met with the most beautiful ocean orbs she had set upon. She couldn't help but feel a familiar aura shooting from his concern and worried irises.

"_Daijoubu ka_? I didn't mean to bump into you like that. _Gomen_ ne?"

_That voice…_

Hinata snapped her eyes wide open, those once calm orbs turned into shock and surprise as she looked at the man in front of her. She parted her lips, her throat suddenly feeling dry, her head began to throb and her palms began to sweat excessively. She couldn't believe what or who she was facing. _No… it can't be… it can't…_

The man stood up, the workers began crowding around – asking whether their '_hot_' boss was alright – helping the traumatized girl up on her feet. Her legs wobbled and she nearly lost her footing again but he helped her stable once more and gave her a sincere grin. Hinata also realized a group of young men stood behind him, each giving them a worried expression – possibly his close friends. "Do you need me to send you to a hospital? Are you seriously hurt? You look a little pale…"

She suddenly couldn't find her voice as her eyes were transfixed to him only. She gazed into those once lost blue eyes, she found herself lost into his appearance as well. She opened her mouth slightly, lips quivering and gathered as much strength she had and said with a shaky voice…

"N-Naruto-kun…?"

* * *

CLIFFIE! Sorry, couldn't resist! Well, hope this chapter made up for the delayed update. I seem to make Hinata jabber to herself a lot huh? Haha! Take note that Gaara will have quite a role later on. Can't really say what but you can tell by my pairings that I listed on top. That won't come soon though because I'd like to take this story slowly. I hope I improved on my detailing a little. I'm sure I'll improve as time goes on and so does my story. I also changed the summary a little. Please review and tell me your opinion and if there's anything that I need to impove, please do inform me. Your reviews are what keeps me pumped to update. So, **review, review, REVIEW!**

Next chapter: First day on the job has never been boring. Hinata makes friends with a lot of _unusual_ people.

Japanese words:-

- teme : a curse commonly used by japanese people

- arigatou : thank you

- hai : yes

- sumimasen : excuse me

- sugoi : amazing

- gomen : sorry

- baka : idiot

- daijoubu ka : are you alright?

- dare ka : who are you?

- shuugi : congratulations

- ganbatte : good luck

- domo : very much

- _estrellaz_ -


	3. Feelings and Meanings

**A/N:** Extremely _sorry_ for this late update! I had my ballet recitals so I couldn't finish this until then. Sorry! Anyway, thank you very, very much to my chapter 2 reviewers – Chigatana, hyuuga's pale rose, Baka Nii-san, RasenganFin, Han-Ko, myrthill, symbiotic, darktank, S-Wanderer999, disneyrulz23 and Hannyu Arashi. Your support helps me a lot so I hope you keep on supporting me! As well as this fic of course! And thank you to all who put this story on alert or favourites. I'm so happy this fic is getting more readers! Hope you enjoy this chapter, chapter 3!

**Pairings: Naruto/Hinata – Sasuke/Sakura – Neji/Tenten – Shikamaru/Ino – minor Kakashi/Anko and possible onesided Gaara/Hinata later on.**

**Warning: Slightly OOC but not too much. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Sad, really.**

'blah' – speaking

'_blah'_ – japanese words/flashback/emphasis

'_**blah'**_ – thoughts

* * *

Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter Three

_**I can't believe this…**_

Hinata blinked. Her body suddenly felt powerless as she could feel her surroundings grow numb to her limbs. Her fingers twitched endlessly while every inch of her palm was covered with beads of perspiration. She wished she wasn't trembling so much, stop shaking and shivering but she couldn't. The organ that was deep inside her was pumping wildly until she could hear every single beat it made. But a part of her that hadn't budged an inch were her eyes.

She kept them occupied. Occupied with… those mesmerizing ocean orbs in front of her that had a minor tinge of sapphire deep inside that she could feel as though she could plunge deep and be drowned in them. They held the aura of kindness and sincerity deeply engraved on the irises – just like they used to. Using her wet tongue as a tool to dampen her dry lips a little, she saw that his golden eyebrows were crossed as he plastered a confused expression on his features.

"…A-Ano… not to sound rude… but… h-how do you know my name?"

Hinata snapped her eyes even wider – feeling her chest tightening and causing severe damage to her heart – as she looked at him with a dazing stare. _**W-What…? What does he mean by how do I know his name?**_ She parted her lips, questions lingering on her tongue to spit to him but before she could even utter a syllable, his breast pocket vibrated and she heard him curse under his breath.

The blond man gave an apologetic expression towards Hinata as he fished out the source of the interruption. His eyes traveled over to the screen of his cell phone. Upon seeing the ID, he closed his eyes and cringed a little – she noticed he was gritting his teeth as well. He craned his neck to the back and gave a helpless look towards one of the friends he had come with.

"Sasuke, help me take care of her. I gotta go."

And with a swift motion, Hinata was now standing up straight with her stability being aided by the man she presumed was Sasuke. With sadness engulfing her milky white orbs, she watched as who she had guessed to be the one boy she was forced to separate from leave her sight and disappear around her corner. She felt her lower lip quiver and her heart being pressed into a tight circular frame.

And as she had forecasted, small drops of salty liquids began forming on the brink of her eyes.

She needed to get away, she needed to find a secluded corner where she could allow her tears to cascade freely across her pale cheek, she just needed to be away from everyone.

"…_S-S-Sumimasen_…" she mumbled as she used every ounce of her left over energy to push away from Sasuke and ran off, stumbling a few times but managed to escape from all the wondrous and lost eyes of the crowd. Another man stood beside Sasuke, a bored expression mingling on his tanned face.

"…_Mengokuse_… I told you women were nothing but trouble."

"Hn." came the muted reply of the raven haired boy – his long fingers tucked deeply inside his turtle neck sweater's mini compartments. His blank gaze couldn't help but dart towards the direction of where Hinata once stood. _**How does she know that dobe's name…?**_ _**She looks… familiar though…**_ His mind began getting filled with millions of questions that buzzed around – causing Sasuke too feel even more agitated than usual.

"Oi, _baka_, hurry up or I'm leaving without you," yelled his friend, still crossing his eyebrows and lips forming a scowl. Sasuke turned slowly to the man and gave a short nod. He shifted his head from left to right continuously, hoping to cleanse his mind from any thoughts of that peculiar woman and resumed his walking towards the impatient man.

* * *

The sounds of the soft and soothing melodies coming from the cellos were heard echoing throughout the dim-lited room as liquids containing alcoholic substances were poured into fragile yet exquisite glasses. The exotic tune of excitement was heard blowing from the trumpets and blending in with the serenity the four walled space along with the seductive scent of perfumes filling the air around it.

Whispers being sent amongst the patrons that displayed their expensive leather suits with their skimpy mistresses could faintly be absorbed as he slid the tips of his icy fingers onto the rough surface of the glass ahead of him. His pale and clouded irises absentmindedly gazed longingly to the hazel colored drink – taking deep interest to the frozen blocks floating without a lead on the clear sea of light brown.

"_Gomen_, Neji-kun, did I make you wait so long?" came a firm feminine voice over his shoulder. He rolled those mysterious eyes and swerved on his chair in a casual motion, facing the elder woman in front of him. "Just get right to the point, Sabaku, I don't have all day. I'm an important person, ya know?"

The golden haired woman gave a sly smirk as she stepped forward and occupied the vacant stool on the right of the young man. Her palm slapped repeatedly onto the counter top as she informed the bartender on her choice of liquor. With a swift nod, the strikingly silent waiter began to prepare the woman's choice.

"Ya know, Neji-kun, I never expected you to be mysterious and secretive. After nearly two years of knowing you, I'd expected to have you known like the back of my palm." She snorted out a stiffled laugh. "Guess you can't judge a book by it's cover."

"Cut the crap and spill the beans, Temari. I ain't got all day." Neji's patience was easily shredded by every single second the eldest Sabaku wasted on drawling and delaying of speaking out her true intentions for ringing up the brown haired man and forcefully verbally dragging him down to the company's personal bar. Temari couldn't contain herself from casually raising the corners of her red-coated lips.

"A Hyuuga is in the building right now. And you know what, it's not you."

His mystic and calm orbs turned to aghast and surprise – like a once peaceful island having it's serenity destroyed by an unexpected destructive storm – as he craned his neck and gazed at Temari with shock eating his insides. His loose grip on the rim of his alcohol container tightened instantly and for some reason, his body was trembling – he could practically see his arms and fingers quaking in such a high pace.

"… Quit fooling around, Sabaku… It ain't funny."

"Whoever said I was joking, Neji-kun? Besides, I'm never one for jokes." Her voice had a tinge of suspicion as she drawled over her words, making him quake even more. His heart thundered against his thick skin and beads of salty body fluid began littering around the wide space of his forehead. _**After all these years… I warned them never to come near me again! Why? Why is there someone from my family here? More importantly… who? **_

With all his reasons and posture vanishing into the humid, slick air hanging around them, his fingers surged forth and clenched around the silky fabric of Temari's blouse. The blond gave out a soft yelp due to being startled by the brunette's sudden action and also because his hold not only trapped her article of clothing with his iron fingers but it managed to capture her delicate skin as well.

"Who is it, Temari? Who's the other Hyuuga? Who?!" She blinked a few times, surprised to how he became so tensed up after she bore the truthful news to him – also because she could hear a tone of desperation and curiosity embedded deep in that demanding question. Temari shut her eyelids and harshly parted herself from the Hyuuga's grasp, dusting the cloth as though his hands had filthed her uniform before giving him a smirk.

"Does the name, _Hinata_, sound familiar to you?"

_**W-What…?**_

His blank irises drew further apart to that name. His beating organ began pacing faster – as though it were in a marathon – and his palms were damp with sweat. He curled his long and slender fingers one by one as he bundled them together to form a fist. Neji suddenly found it hard to breathe, as though the oxygen around him was contaminated with an unknown substance that made him feel weak and faint inside.

It had been five years, five _long_ and lonely years, since he last heard that name. The name that he hadn't spoken of since she ran and vanished from their lives forever, the name he dreaded and swore he would murder the next person who muttered or even whispered those syllables towards him, the name he promised himself he would forget, the name… the name of the girl he misunderstood that last fateful night she stood upon his deathful glare…

_**Hinata…**_

* * *

"Hinata-chan! _Okaeri_!"

The young Hyuuga raised her once hung head and she displayed a sincere smile to her friends who gathered around her with hope and anticipation surrounding and filtering their very presence. She inhaled a gust of air as she slowly let it out through her curled lips and met their anxious gazes. As they saw her frown and grieve dancing around deep inside the core of her pale, clear gems that were her eyes, the once anxious stench expelled from their surroundings and solemn expressions made their way onto their features… until Hinata suddenly grinned.

"I got the job!"

With shock and disbelief written all over their sad faces – which they hastily replaced with joy and relief – Sakura was the first to take action, which happened to be jumping on the powerless girl and engulfing her into a tight and warm embrace. Hinata was slightly pushed behind a few steps for the sudden weight that was dropped on top of her weak body but she regained her stability and quickly returned the friendly gesture sincerely given to her.

"Oh, Hinata-chan, I _knew_ you could do it!" came the brief yet grateful words from the pink haired girl. Hinata silently thanked the female Haruno by gripping her closer and smiling widely to herself. Sakura's warmth surprisingly reminded the navy haired girl of a certain guardian she used to have, a guardian that had lost her life once upon a time, a guardian that took great care of her and showered her with unlimited love - the same guardian that brought her to this untamed world.

The warmth began to fade as Sakura released her grip on her but a new pair of arms snaked around the sylph-like neck belonging to the fragile girl and provided a grateful and congratulative embrace. "_Shuugi_, Hinata-chan! I'm so happy for you," said Tenten, brushing the navy haired girl's pale and red-smeared cheek against the soft fabric of her turtle-neck sweater.

"I presume this is a perfectly acceptable reason to take out the sake, ne?" drawled Ino as a sly smirk crept slowly onto her lips. Sakura rolled her emerald jewels whilst Tenten stiffled a giggle. They had already predicted the blond would use any open excuse to consume as much alcohol as one could before drifting into a world of craziness and head pains. Hinata nodded obediently in return to the young Yamanaka's suggestion.

"Sushi sounds good too. And so does seaweed buns. Why don't you guys prepare the table while I cook up a feast to celebrate this day?" questioned the timid girl. Sakura immediately stood her ground and shook her head firmly.

"Nu-uh, Hinata-_hime_. Today's your day. Today, you are the queen and we are your loyal and humble servers. Now, your majesty, please proceed towards your quarters and rest well as we prepare a feast fit for you."

Before Hinata could utter a word of protest or even a brief comment, Tenten had already locked their arms together and was gesturing them to the left, towards the quaint room of the Hyuuga. She could merely hold a cheesy grin.

This was gonna be a long night.

* * *

Konoha had an extra sense of serenity added to it as soon as the sun had vanished from the naked eye and the moon hung gracefully on top of the dark canvas of the night with its fellow stars shining brightly on the velvet space. The air beheld a slight chill into its normal warmth and silence became the wind's companion. Hinata had always favored the town during night. Her mind could absorb the peaceful feeling her heart had captured and the stress or pressure her body had bestowed during the day would surprisingly vanish when her eyes were set upon the beautiful sky.

Her dry throat released a deep sigh as the fingers that were nicely curved around the smooth surface of her coffee mug absorbed the minor heat the liquid inside the glass cup radiated. Her arms moved upwards as the tips of her lips fell softly onto the mouth of her favorite mug – which had cost her ten hours of arguing with her cousin among deciding whether the elephant mug was nicer or the tiger one; which resulted in buying the bear one instead – and she swallowed the calming liquid, feeling it slide against her throat and damping it up.

She wished she could drink her sorrow away as well.

"…_A-Ano… not to sound rude… but… h-how do you know my name?"_

Her eyelids fluttered shut as she hid the cringe her heart was enduring. Those words had stung her so deeply, it had carved a deep hole in her mind and buried itself into it. She could still remember the confusion his eyes and voice beheld when she had sputtered out loud the name she dare not forget to the one she presumed was. He had looked so surprised when she had spoken that name. As though she were a criminal and was being charged due to the fact she had mistaken him for someone else. Someone that had meant the world to her.

_**Silly me. My first impression of my boss is that he reminds me of a boy that left me five years ago. What are the odds?**_

Still, those _eyes_. Those mysterious, breathtaking pools of azure captured her gaze and unwillingly trapped her in them, forcefully plunging her deeper into the pair until she had lost herself and was floating absentmindedly inside the core. Those eye held an innocent sparkle that never died and became brighter when she saw right into them for the first time. Those sapphire gems reminded her of the warm and kind-hearted irises that once belonged to the boy who would guide her through life. The same blue orbs that had a glint of worry when she hurt herself even for the simplest and minor things such as her grazing her knee.

_**Then again, he had the same glint when he fussed about me bumping into him… **_

Hinata shook her head and rapidly chugged nearly half of her beverage to aid her in expelling the thought of that. Sure, Uzumaki-san has a few things that are similar with the boy she longed for. For starters, coincidently or not, their sur names are exactly the same. She couldn't confirm on the first for she had never acknowledged his first name. Their locks bore the colors of the shining blond, a silky gold that stood out and that messy hairstyle.

He was always one to whine and complain on how he could never transform his unruly tresses into a girl magnet attribute but she would always assure him he looks charming enough as it is. He would always give her that goofy grin. How she would turn ten different shades of red upon seeing that one simple smile.

Their eyes were oddly alike. She couldn't deny the fact that their eyes were similar in every aspect she could list. And finally, his touch_**. When Uzumaki-san caught me… his touch… so gentle…**_ He was gentle too, so gentle until she assumed he thought of her as a piece of fragile glass, willing to break any second if he didn't attend to her with care. She could still remember how soft… how delicate his hands were around her. So smooth…

"Hinata-chan? What're you doing out here?"

Said girl craned her neck to the back as her milky irises captured the sight of her best friend, Sakura slowly making her way towards the blue-black haired girl. Hinata carved a short smile – her lower lip quivered slightly due to the decreasing temperature that engulfed her surroundings - before turning around and faced the cold blue moon that acted as the source of light throughout the plunging darkness of the night once more. She faintly heard the soft rustle of Sakura's coat as she made herself comfortable on the vacant spot beside her friend.

"Alright, spill. I know something's bothering you so, lay it on me," came the usual tone of her cherry haired companion. Hinata's eyes flickered towards Sakura, feeling a little insecure considering that Sakura could know her every thought and feelings without even asking her before. She chuckled softly before slowly sipping a little piece of her warm beverage.

"_Nanda sore_, Sakura-chan? You say that as though I always have something bothering me all the time."

"_Iie_. You don't act like this all the time. Tonight, you're acting way different." Sakura connected the palms of her hands and glided them across one another, providing minor heat to her numb hands. How forgetful she was until she couldn't even remember to wear gloves before coming out. She should've known it was going to be chilly then. I mean, it is Konoha.

"How so?" questioned Hinata, her breaths coming out in forms of mist that hung loosely in front of her parted lips.

"Well, for starters, you didn't finish the _Ebi_ rolls that Tenten-chan made and we all know you can't resist that. You didn't sing along to your favorite song that Ino was, quite frankly, yelling in an out of tune voice. You didn't even bother to stop me and Ino bickering when we fought over who could drink the most sake without getting drunk. And you kept tapping your fingers on your lap and we all know that you always do that when you're being bothered by something."

Hinata's eyelids moved up and down rapidly as she stretched her irises apart. Am I that easy to figure out? A small chuckle emitted from her throat. "Wow, you got me. I'm impressed, Sakura-chan."

"What can I say? Being friends with you for over ten years gave me an opportunity to know you inside and out. Never mind that, tell me what's going on in your mind."

The young Hyuuga traveled her glance downwards, finding a crack on the balcony of their apartment to be rather interesting, and avoided the concern green eyes that were being shot at her direction. Sakura heaved a long sigh and scooted closer to the timid woman, grabbing the item that was tight fully clenched in Hinata's possession. Before the navy trussed girl could mouth a protest, Sakura chugged down the remaining drops of liquid – leaving the base of the mug with little speckles of brown droplets.

"Ne, Hinata-chan, is there something wrong with your new job?"

Hinata could only muster a weak smile in response. Sakura didn't even know half of what she was forced to deal with. "Not really…"

"Then what? The wage isn't good enough? The new boss is a pervert that looks up your skirt? The employees treat you harshly? Don't tell me the desk you're gonna have is filthy because if it is, I swear-…"

"I saw him, Sakura-chan," interrupted the woman, her long locks snapping back and forth against her icy cheek, feeling the ends trail near her shivering lips. A smile managed to dance upon her lips as her calm irises held a sense of longing engulfing them. Sakura blinked for a constant time towards her.

"You saw…_who_, Hinata-chan?"

Said girl tilted her head backwards, raising her gaze to stare wondrously to the heaven sky above, its dark aroma trapping her soul and keeping it in its possession. "Remember that boy I used to hang out with… the one that I talked about with you but you guys never met. I kept promising to get all of my friends together so ya'll could meet him. He was my best friend…"

"Oh yeah," drawled Sakura, remembering the past events of Hinata telling her in a cute manner on how she had fun with a boy. "I remember. You would always come to my house around after dinner so you could tell me all about your day's event with him. I still can see that little twinkle you would have in your eyes when you told me all about him. What was his name again…Niratu…no, that's not it…nuri…no… narito? No…what was it… na-…"

"Naruto…" breathed Hinata, closing her eyes upon savoring every letter of that name. "Uzumaki… Naruto…"

"Yeah, that's it! Naruto… I wish I could've met him though. He sounded like a nice guy…"

Hinata let out a short giggle. "He was… He definitely was."

"So… you met him again? You said you saw him, didn't you?" Sakura's eyes were widened with intrest and her grin displayed how much she was anxious on hearing the navy haired girl's tale. Hinata merely gave a deep sigh before standing on her two feet, holding the now empty mug before turning around and making a short wave motion with her right hand towards the pink haired girl.

"I'm going in now. My first day's tomorrow and I don't want to mess that up. Oyasumi"

Sakura parted her lips to speak out a comment but Hinata was gone before she could even reply that wish.

* * *

"_Ne, N-Naruto-kun… a-ano… do you want to eat lunch with me? I made your favorite. Ramen with an egg in the middle."_

"_Whoa, really? Arigatou Hi-…"_

"_It's no problem, N-Naruto-kun. I l-love making you lunch. Maybe next time, we could eat at the park and have a picnic?"_

"_That's a great idea, Hi-…! I'll even bring my sensei's favorite blanket for us to sit down on!"_

"_Dame da yo, N-Naruto-kun! You could get in trouble!"_

"_Daijoubu. I don't care if I get into trouble. As long as I can spend time with you, it's worth it…"_

"_N-Naruto-kun…"_

His eyelids were hastily pulled back as the raging tension that flared from his eyes were shown as he sat up abruptly, the velvet comforters falling and grouped together around his waist to reveal his tanned chest. His breathing became slightly ragged as beads of sweat littered every inch of his features. His irises began to calm down as he inhaled a gust of air and slowly exhaled it through the tunnel of his nostrils. He started to feel his heart pacing slower and began beating in normal fashion.

_**Another dream…**_

His fingers snaked themselves around the red silk fabric of the blanket that provided him warmth from the night's chilly air. He gripped them firmly into his palm and through his lids, he saw the darkness surrounding his four walled quarters, the furniture that fitted in them dimly litted by the minor light source pouring from the large tinted windows facing his bed. He raised a hand and used his limp fingers to messily rake them through his golden locks, feeling the dampness they held from the sweat he was excreting.

_**Who is she, dammit!? Who is she…?**_

He could still hear the softness of her voice, the blurry image of her what seemed like black locks, the fuzzy sound of her giggle when he grinned at her. She was just… _there_. He couldn't fully catch an enhanced image of her but that voice was clearer then the pacific ocean. Her voice was so melodic, so peaceful. He could feel his heart run a million times faster upon capturing those sweet vocals.

_**Teme, I'm losing my mind…**_

Shaking his head in a frustrated manner, Naruto clamped his eyelids shut before slamming his throbbing head to the soft pillow that lulled him into a sleepy manner once more. His drowsy feeling returned as he sensed his mind drooping off and climbing aboard the slumber express. Not long, he drifted to sleep once more but this time he had one image focused on his mind before entering a world of fantasy and non-reality.

The image of the woman he bumped into at the office earlier that day.

* * *

Shinobi Entreprises was known to be a busy company with many branches formed underneath one name. This would only result into millions of employees bustling up and about as soon as the main doors opened so they could resume a had day's work and genuinely earn the cold hard cash that world soon be entering the contents of their pockets' eventually. Hinata was no different.

It was rather peculiar for her to be sitting in front of a desk with everything she needed provided efficiently. She had to admit, her being felt a little alienated. As though she belonged somewhere else and not on a comfortable movable chair with a complete desk in front of her and coincidently enough, was facing her boss's office. As Hinata sat at her new work station, her eyes began to scan her surroundings t familiarize them for she was after all, a new employee.

The coffee machine was a stone's throw from her position, which was rather handy. Other desks were perched at the south end of her desk which was probably the main reporters or workers under Uzumaki-san's care. The bathroom wasn't that far, she could at least view the outlines of the brass door handle belonging to the facility. Plants were scattered around the area as far as the eye could see. The flowers colored the dull scenery as the sweet aroma that they provided filled her nostrils, calming her nerves which she was thankful of.

Her heart wasn't thundering as fast as when she had made her way here. She felt calmer and more relaxed. Her new co-workers were friendly as well but they hadn't spoken much as Shino was inspecting their ever move and being caught dilly-dallying would result in being thrown out of the building and jobless once more. Hinata gulped. Career life was definitely harder then she had imagined.

The young Hyuuga debated on whether she should prepare something before her boss made an order – surprisingly, he wasn't even in yet and he was supposed to have arrived about twenty minutes and fifty seconds ago, not that Hinata was counting – so she finally decided on preparing a list of the company's stocks and how much they were progressing. Her fingers grazed over the smooth surface of her Blackberry, never before having the privilege to even look at one of these items.

She flipped it open and turned the power on, amazed at how fast this machinery was compared to the tacky desktop Ino had given her last Christmas. A group of squeals caused the timid woman to sit abruptly as she glanced to the cause. A group of her co-workers were huddled in front of the elevator, as though a celebrity would pop out any minute. As soon as the bell chimed and the sounds of the golden elevator doors that had the company's insignia printed on them swooshed open, they chorused "_Ohayo_, Uzumaki-san!"

Hinata's heart began doing flips again.

She trailed back to doing what she was previously doing – though her thoughts were beginning to turn slightly fuzzy – but she somehow couldn't disable the faint sight of his golden locks through the corners of his eyes and the gentle tone in his hoarse voice as he greeted his employees back. Her heart seemed to pummel faster as every step he took caused their distance to shorten and their closeness to pull together.

"_Ohayo_…Hyuuga-san…" came the simple remark of her new boss. She raised her head and was immediately locked gazes with the stunning azure eyes she couldn't seem to banish from her thoughts all night. She seemed to have lost control of her mind as her brain couldn't even seem to register a corresponding response to his greeting. He gave a short grin that made her stomachs conjure butterflies in them.

Before she could greet him back, he pushed forth a tanned hand hat acted as a sign for her to take it. She stole glances to his expression and saw he was smiling with the dimples on his cheeks visible to her sight. Hesitantly, Hinata met her palm with his warm and welcoming one. Their hands moved north to south repeatedly in a slow motion. He was still giving her that female magnet grin.

"Welcome to Shinobi Entreprises. I'm your new boss, Uzumaki Naruto, pleased to be working with you."

Hinata blanked out. Her misty eyes widened as she casually parted her lips and tilted them into a curious frown. "U-Uzumaki…_N-Na…N-Naruto_?"

He nodded and that was enough for her world to vanish from her sight. She fought back the million and one questions buzzing through her brain as her ability to reason was vanquished. Her heart beat as fast as a cheetah and sweat began forming on her palms. She gulped down a chunk of saliva before looking him straight in the eye and carved a confident grin onto her red-covered lips.

"Hyuuga Hinata. It's an pleasure to be working with you too…Uzumaki-san…"

* * *

There ya go. Longest chapter yet. Next chapter could be longer. This chapter might be less on the detailing and stuff but I wanted to post this fast so… yeah, forgive me! I wanted to introduce Hinata's co-workers in this chapter but it would've been longer and you guys would have to wait longer so, I decided not to. XD Also, Gaara was supposed to be in this chapter but I couldn't fit him yet so he'll be back in the next one. So, the mystery's solved… right? Hinata knows Naruto but he doesn't. Why is it so…? Don't worry suspense will be gone soon. Be patient. Again, please leave a review and lemme know what you think. Criticsm is appreciated so **review, review, REVIEW!**

Next Chapter: Hinata was never good at bonding. But her new co-workers were experts in that. _Especially_ her new boss.

Japanese words:-

- sumimasen – excuse me

- mengokuse – how troublesome

- baka - idiot

- gomen - sorry

- okaeri – you're home

- nanda sore – what are you talking about?

- iie - no

- ebi – fish

- teme – a curse commonly used by japanese

- ohayo – good morning

- estrellaz -


	4. Finding and Falling

**A/N**: This chapter caused me some troubles. My laptop had a slight malfunction so all my chapters that I wrote in Microsoft word got deleted. Thank god I saved them all inside my pen drive, except for this chap. So, I rewrote it again. After that, my bro played on my laptop and forgot to save this doc when he shut the laptop down. So, I had to rewrite it once more and I swear, I was praying hard that this would be the last time I wrote this chap! XD

Anywho, thanks a bunch to my chapter 3 reviewers – Baka nii-san, symbiotic, Eiki.K.lover123, lil.ramen.lover, Hannyu Arashi, Surfwizard, disneyrulz23, Han-ko, taintedlegacy, hieiashke, myrthill, Darkmoon1025, darktank, princessPOCKY-chan, hyuuga's pale rose and rasenbyakuluv. Wow, this fic is actually becoming something. I'm pretty happy with the feedback I'm receiving. Thank you also to all that put this fic on alert or faves and also who put myself on their author alert and fave. Again, your support means the world to me and I'm not going to let it go to waste. I present you, chapter 4.

**Pairings: Naruto/Hinata – Sasuke/Sakura – Neji/Tenten – Shikamaru/Ino – minor Kakashi/Anko and possible onesided Gaara/Hinata later on. **

**Warning: Slightly OOC but not too much.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own anything except this plot which I have written on my plot paper. Yes, I have a plot paper. XD**

'blah' - speaking

'_blah'_ – japanese words/flashbacks/emphasis

'_**blah'**_ – thoughts

* * *

Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter Four

_**Wah, sugoi! Hinata-chan wasn't kidding… This place is huge on the inside!**_

Sakura hung her mouth wide open with tremendous awe as her emerald orbs flickered aimlessly around the massive hallway of Shinobi Enterprises. She was taken aback at the width of the building for she had never came across such a wide and gigantic space. People whom worked at the facility were bustling about, discussing on their purpose of being there whilst holding a certain object in their grasp.

The pink haired girl gripped tighter on the item she had in between her sweaty palms, her reason as well as to why she was there. The area was so packed, she felt the idea of being confused and lost taking over her mind. She saw herself as though she were a fly in an ant farm, with no knowledge whatsoever on the unknown territory. She heaved a deep sigh before walking forth whilst scanning around to find someone to inquire on the whereabouts of this building.

Her eyes managed to catch the sight of a counter with workers behind replying politely to the questions a few people were asking them about. By the looks of it, she had assumed that was the location where newcomers came for questions about the company. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way slowly and casually towards the counter – a soft smile plastered on her red-smothered lips.

As she was about to approach the woman in charge - a question dangling on the tip of her tongue – her sight was immediately blocked by a black piece of fabric, red stripes alligned among one another and also had minor wrinkles forming on it. Sakura raised her head to view the impolite person who dared to cut her way when she was clearly reaching the counter beforehand. He was slightly tall, a few inches above her so her eyes were forced to wander above.

His messy raven hair blew with the chilly air surrounding them whilst she heard words being exchanged between him and the woman behind the lengthy desk. "_Sumimasen_, is Uzumaki in his office already?" His voice happened to be rough yet gentle in a way. The young Haruno couldn't help but allow her heart to do a little flip upon hearing such exquisite vocal chords. _**What am I thinking? Sexy voice? He just easily cut in front of me and I think his voice is sexy? God, I need a life!**_

She purposely cleared her throat, hoping dearly he would acknowledge her presence and face her but he casually resumed his conversation with the woman. Sakura twitched with agitation. She coughed up a fake growl, feeling bothered he was ignoring her very well. Sakura had always despised not being noticed. It was a bad habit of hers.

Biting down on her lower lip softly, she parted her dry mouth and was about to mutter a word to show her appearance when he swerved to the right and walked away – leaving only a scent of his aftershave and light cologne. She scoffed. Gazing to the man that dared to be rude and impolite to her presence, purposely ignoring her actual being and bravely moved far from her sight. She wasn't going to let him slide that easily.

"_Ohayo gozaimas_, welcome to Shinobi Enterprises. How may I help you?"

Sakura flickered her eyes to the woman that previously conversed with the mysterious man. The woman gave a cheerful grin and showed an expression as to inquire Sakura on her prupose of appearing in front of the counter. Without hesitation, she gave a small bow and muttered a quick '_Sumimasen_' before running off towards the direction of _his_ way. The woman called for her back, confusion etched in her shout but heaved a sigh and a shrug when realizing it's uselessness before resuming her paperwork.

Sakura panted with frustration as well as impatience. Her anger boiled up inside and grouped together in chunks of rage to form an explosive ball of frustration. Her inner self replayed gruesome torture acts she would apply to the man whom had such a disliked personality yet owned a lovely voice.

_**Ah, stop it, Sakura! His voice isn't that sexy anyway!**_ Her moss green irises darted left to right in a repitive motion, hoping deeply to capture at least a strand of his spiked black tresses.

Before she could throw in the towel, the corner of her emerald jewels managed to catch the sight of a lock belonging to the person she was searching for. A smirk graced her lips as her legs began running south towards the man. The tips of her light red hair smacked rapidly onto her chilly cheek whilst the coat around her slim body trapped her like a cocoon.

As her distance with him shortened, she turned a corner and saw his rather built body entering the elevator, holding the door apart to allow the people pouring inside to walk out safely. Sakura scoffed. _**Oh now he acts like Mr.Nice guy? Sheesh, don't tell me he's bipolar! Or worse, a show off.**_ _**The way he smirks shows he's one. Hn, gives me another reason to dislike him…**_

Caused by staring for a long moment to the man, Sakura hadn't realized that he was already inside with the doors closing shut. Sakura gasped and quickly dashed after him – being the number one star on her track team during high school did have it's advantages – and on the nick of time, her hand managed to halt the closure of the metal doors. Her breaths came out in pants as she raised her head and was locked with the most amazing onyx orbs she had ever crossed upon.

_**Eh… I've never seen such… wow… those eyes… **_

The man raised his thin eyebrow as a sign to the startled feeling he experienced upon her sudden action. Not to mention a little queasy due to her constant staring. She seemed to be transfixed and paralyzed for she hadn't budged an inch after surprising the poor man unexpectedly. He decided to break the silence that was making him nervous.

"Are you gonna come in or not?"

The woman seemed to have broken out of her trance and regained her posture, fixing her pink hair – he had never set his eyes on such an exquisite shade of light red – before entering the elevator fully. He rolled his eyes in a lazy manner and pressed the button to which made the doors to close and began to move upwards. The air around him became contaminated with her perfume – which smelled rather cheap – and filled his nostrils, poisoning his mind into becoming slightly fuzzy. He ignored her presence as much as he could but damn, those rosy tresses were so inviting.

He also realized her lips were a nice shade of red. And it looked soft… so soft…

_**What? Stop it, you perv! She's gonna realize you're staring at her. She might think you're looking at something else... besides her looks…**_

"A-Ano… _sumimasen_?"

He snapped out of his deep thinking as soon as his earlobes absorbed the sound of her gentle voice. His head turned to her direction. "… You might've not realized it… but…," Redness began to tinge her pale cheeks. _God,_ her blush was adorable… She heaved a deep sigh before crossing her thin eyebrows and sending him a rather serious glare.

"Who gave you the right to cut in front of me just now!?"

His irises parted widely before giving her a confused expression, lips parted a little. "…_Nanda to_?"

She huffed and shut her eyelids, avoiding his stare and crossing her slim arms – it looked as though he could snap it like a twig – over her blooming chest. "Don't try acting lost and confused. You know what I'm talking about!" She faced him once more, deep green eyes blaring into his whilst her lips flipped into a scowl. "I especially _hate_ it when people don't apologize when they clearly did something wrong."

He scoffed. Tilting his smooth mouth into a small smirk, he flickered his gaze forth and said, "Hn… did you forget to take your medicine today or something?"

"_Nani_!?"

He faced her furious expression and gave a sly smirk. "Accusing someone when that person doesn't even know what you're blabbering about, could it be that you just came out of the mental hospital?" As soon as those words escaped his lips, her eyebrows crossed even further towards the centre of her pointy nose and her teeth grinded against one another in a forceful push. Her vein popped out in a fast fashion whilst her wide forehead turned a deep shade of scarlet.

She snapped her head back and mustered the deathliest glare she could express but as soon as her eyes went to the side, he was gone from her sight. She swerved her attention to her left and saw that he was already leaving her presence and walking casually out – hands deep inside those pockets belonging to his plain slacks. She strained her voice box, preparing to yell all the insults that were written in her vocabulary to his direction but before she could even speak a syllable, he turned and gave that infamous smirk.

"By the way, you have nice hair. For a psycho that is."

And with those words, her vision was blocked once more by those metal doors as the elevator rumbled and began moving downwards. She was alone now. Sakura's body was trembling with rage mixed with a dash of shock. Never before had she received such an insult and let that said person slide away without getting a few words out of her mouth. She leant back and slowly sledded her back down, bending her knees so that her shivering body was supported by those strong limbs.

She gritted her teeth again and clenched her fingers together to form a fist and shut her eyelids tight. Swearing to murder the next person that had spiky yet messy raven hair that seemed to flow with the soft wind, beady onyx eyes that somehow glinted under even minor light, a quite built body that could be seen under that soft blue velvet shirt and that mysterious yet intoxicating voice that wove her into a web filled with paradise and lust.

Curse her sense for taking in such detail over a stranger.

As the elevator bell chimed signifying the arrival of her floor level, Sakura pushed her body up with her shaking palms against the fur-covered floor and tightened her now loose ponytail. Giving a smile to the people that began entering the elevator whilst she excused herself from their presence, she began making her way towards the same place where the rude, obnoxious man was first seen and somehow left a mark into her busy life.

When she reached the smooth top of the counter, the previous woman in charge was slight startled to see Sakura once more but with a grin plastered on her lips. Her hand shot forward and revealed what seemed to be a wallet that had lines curved and joined together to form a single arrow. "_Sumimasen_, ano… I was wondering if you could pass this to my friend, Hyuuga Hinata. I… kinda don't know where her workstation is." She let out a nervous giggle. "She just became an employee here as Uzumaki-san's assistant." The worker understood completely and nodded vigorously, accepting the purse with a smile dancing on her lips.

"_Hai_, leave it to me. I'll be sure to hand this to Hyuuga-san as soon as possible."

"_Arigatou_," muttered the pink haired girl, bowing gently before excusing herself and leaving the business company. Her eyes flickered towards the lilac wristwatch that curved nicely around her skin and gasped. _**Ah! I'm already five minutes late. Tsunade-sama's gonna slaughter me for this… Plus, I have an appointment in half an hour. Kuso!**_

As the cold wind of Konoha blew her hair as well as the floral skirt that covered her pale legs, her hand flailed above her head as she called down a taxi. The yellow vehicle stopped on the curb ahead of her, responding to her call. She gladly entered it and drove away, heading towards the _medical_ facility a few blocks away.

* * *

_**He's late… again…**_

The corners of his dashing azure eyes flickered from left to right occasionally, frustrated expression embedded on his tanned face. The whiskers marks on his cheeks twitched along with his lips that kept parting to mummer a curse here and there. The voices of orders being yelled out along with the high odor of soups and curries being boiled filled his nostrils. At the end of his eye, he could see the owner and his waitress receiving their customer's requests and begin to prepare them with smiles drawn on their mouths.

He loved this store. It almost felt like a second home to him. The familiar scent of the noodles being cooked and the sounds of people's chatter being shared among each other made the surroundings feel warm and inviting. He also felt relieved from all the pressure and tense headaches he'd normally endure in the convenient office back at the company. He rolled those sapphire orbs and tapped impatiently on the counter, hoping it would avert his attention from feeling rage towards a certain silver haired man.

"Ano, Naruto-kun, why don't you order first? Seems like whoever you're waiting for won't be arriving soon," came the soft voice of Ayame, the waitress. Naruto glanced his gaze upwards and gave a sincere grin. "_Daijoubu_. I'm sure he'll arrive soon. I'll order when he get's here."

She gave out a giggle and nodded in understandment, then resumed her work once more.

Naruto sighed. He _hated_ Tuesdays. God declared to cause such agony on him on that particular day. His head was throbbing with pain which caused his vision to be slightly fuzzy as he sometimes saw double instead of single. He cringed in motion whenever Shino explained his activities for that day, every single word spoken by his family's assistant would somehow explode inside his eardrums, inflicting pain to his brain as a result. The daily meetings with all the head boards of each sector wasn't much help. Considering all of them would always conjure an excuse to argue on their opposite opinions.

But he wasn't feeling lightheaded because of that alone.

_**Hyuuga Hinata…**_

He could still see those misty white irises vividly embedded inside his memory. That tinge shade of blush crossing under her eyes every time she faced him. Those silky navy locks that curved nicely around her sharp face and that addicting smile she had when she greeted him that morning. He had to admit, she was one of the women that captured his sight upon a glance.

It felt rather alien to him. She was merely a worker under his employment. A woman whom he knew nothing of. He hadn't even known her name until Shino mentioned it when he took her under his care for the interview. He didn't cultivate her presence at all. Not until those mysterious orbs trapped him in a glass cylinder, drowning him deeply and locking him in that pale prison. He somehow felt suffocated around her being – as though she released an aura of familiarity.

Not to mention her surname was similar to a companion of his. _**Why didn't Neji tell me he had a relative around? Probably doesn't trust me or something, that baka. Being friends and business partners still makes me a stranger to him? I gotta ask him later about his relation with her… this Hinata…**_

An image of the girl he constantly had appearing in his dreams popped in front of his sight in a sudden manner. His mind pondered once more on her identity but it always resulted in the same direction – leaving her with no identification and him with no clue on who she was. He didn't even get an actual image of her. Only the blurry sight of her slender figure that was wrapped with what seemed to be a long white coat, the static sound of her gentle voice that always seemed to stutter for a reason and a fuzzy view of a certain shade of black mixed with a tinge of dark purple… or was it blue?

"Yo, Naruto-kun."

Naruto disappeared from floating in the lake filled with his deep thinking to the sea of reality, swerving his gaze to his right and saw a grinning man giving him a wave. Naruto snarled. "_Ossai_, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Ahaha, _gomen_. I got myself distracted while helping this poor little girl find her lost puppy."

Naruto couldn't resist the urge to roll his sapphire gems and scowled. "Pfft, _liar_…."

Kakashi laughed a little, giving the blonde's unruly hair a short pat before taking his seat beside the young Uzumaki. Ayame realized the man's presence and immediately rushed towards the two men, sending the utter most flirtatious smile she could manage to the masked man. "_Konichiwa_, Kakashi-kun! _Sashiburi_. _Genki desu ka_?"

She couldn't tell whether he was truly smiling – caused by his lips being covered by the black cloth he had nearly over half his face – but continued her gaze on his appearance only. "Ah, _konichiwa_ Ayame-san. _Genki des_. How's the old man treatin' you lately?"

A giggle was the reply to his question along with a wink inserted. "You should know me, Kakashi-kun. I know how to get on his good side _all_ the time." The silver haired man chuckled in response, causing Ayame to blush heavily for she always had a liking on the wondrous sounds of Kakashi laughter. Naruto gave a pout and flailed his hands in the air.

"Oi, oi, I came here to eat ramen, not watch two adults flirt with each other. In a bad and… sickingly painful to watch way… I might add."

"Aww, Naruto-kun, don't be jealous. You know I'll always put you first," replied Ayame, giving the young man a wink with a grin formed on her lips. Naruto rolled his eyes but couldn't help and return her smile with his own cheesy one. After having a few laughs together, the two men told her what they would wish to consume and allowed her to return back to her work before her boss shouted a warning or two.

"Ne, Naruto, what're you up to now?"

At hearing that comment, the blond turned to face his previous college teacher and raised one of his golden eyebrows. "_Nanda sore_, Kakashi-sensei? I haven't been seeing you lately. In fact, the last time I saw you was three months ago and now, after finally getting to contact and meet you, you claim I'm up to something?"

Kakashi made a gesture with his fingers, stroking his chin casually before looking once more to his ex-student. "Umm… yes. I was your teacher for three years, Naruto. I should know your attitude. The last time you asked me for lunch, I had beetles in my soup and cat urine in my sake. Spill, Uzumaki. Why the sudden invite?"

Naruto heaved a sigh and lowered his gaze to the counter top that somehow shone under the blazing sunlight. His fingers began tangling themselves with each other, dancing in a snake-like motion with his nails occasionally scratching his rough skin. "Kakashi-sensei… what do you do when… you don't know a person but that said person is always on your mind? Even if you try to not think… that person always manages to crawl into your head and lay itself in your mind like that person was marking their territory or something…"

"Is that person a girl?"

Naruto stained his cheeks a deep shade of scarlet while avoiding Kakashi's questioning stare. At that point, the elder man knew the answer. "_Yare, yare_, seems like our little Naruto's got himself a girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Naruto defended, practically brightening the stall with his face that radiated the heat rushing to his cheeks. "I just… I can't stop thinking about her but the problem is, I don't even know her name. Heck, I don't even know her face. Not clearly, that is…"

Kakashi was about to retort back but Ayame appeared once more with their orders, giving an extra brightness to the smile she sent Kakashi and went back to her workstation. "_Itadakimasu_!" exclaimed the hungry man before he started devouring the delicious noodle. Kakashi could merely shake his head – he had hoped Naruto would've matured a little since he was in his early twenties – but then he would miss his hyperactive student and friend.

"Well, I don't know about thinking about a certain someone always but from what I read-…"

"_Matte_! You're not gonna give me advice from some _porn_ book you read?"

Though the mask covered his mouth, Naruto could faintly see that his former sensei was scowling lightly. "For your information, _Naruto_, my books aren't all about porn… they have a purpose. Do you want me to help you or not?"

The younger one laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his bed of messy blond locks. "_Gomen_, Kakashi-sensei. Anyway, you were saying…?"

"Well, there's this one book that told a tale of a man who was in love with a girl he merely dreamed of. He tried and tried everyday to figure out who this girl was but he always failed."

"So, what happened to him? Did he find her?"

"Oh yeah, he did. Took him ten years though."

"_Ten_ years!" yelled Naruto, causing the other customers to flinch and turn his way. Naruto lowered himself to hide the embarrassment shown on his features but it soon died when they continued their own business. "I don't have ten years, Kakashi-sensei. I'll be so old. I'll be over thirty!"

"… I'm over thirty…"

"Oh! I-I mean, ya know… there's nothing wrong with being over thirty… I was just… um, hypothetically speaking. I-I… okay, I'll shut up now."

Kakashi merely rolled his displayed eye before ripping his mask off for a brief second to chug down a cup of sake Ayame gave them along with their meals. After wetting his throat a little, he let out a sigh of contentment and faced Naruto again. "You're missing the point Naruto. True, it took him ten years. But the thing I'm trying to get through that thick head of yours is that he didn't give up. So, no matter how much you think of this girl, never give up in knowing who she is. For all you know, she might be right under your nose…"

Naruto choked slightly, noodles dangling loosely from his open mouth before he sucked them in and swallowed the curvy pasta fully. He had never allowed the thought of the mysterious girl that was forever haunting his dream world and his reality surroundings as well to be around him. He had always argued violently with his brain that this girl was merely a game that his stress veins were playing on him.

Maybe Kakashi-sensei's right… She could be near me… Well, one thing's for sure, I have to continue searching for her. If not, who knows when I'm able to date a woman and not have her in my mind…

"_Sumimasen_, Ayame-san, another bowl of ramen please?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he turned and gave a questioning stare to the elder one. "Ano, Kakashi-sensei… I thought you were saving money for the rents of your apartment and all that. Are you sure you should be wasting them on eating ramen overly?"

"Whoever said I was paying, Naruto-kun. The one that invites, needs to pay."

"_NANI_!!?"

"Ayame-san, make it two more bowls. Naruto's being generous today."

"_Nanda to_!? Ayame-san, _dame da yo_! Don't listen to this man! Ayame-san!"

* * *

The gentle sounds of the tip of a full inked pen scribbling away on the smooth surface of a blank sheet of paper echoed around the large space of her workstation that sounded so eerie without the presence of human activity excluding herself. The silence loomed over her as though it were a stalker seeking it's prey, awaiting the second it could attack. She attempted to dispose of that image immediately and continued her duty as to list down the statistic reports of the rise in the economical sections of Shinobi Enterprises. 

A growl emitting from her stomach delayed her activity though. Her lavender eyes glanced to the source of the ticking noise and realized it was nearly one o'clock. She shut her eyelids slowly and heaved a sigh. Her co-workers had left for their lunch break before she could even suggest of them to consume their lunch meals together – hence the silence aura – leaving her alone with her blackberry in front and the fan hanging above her navy-blue hair.

She hadn't dared to budge an inch away from her desk, fearing the angry tone of her new boss would suddenly be heard – yelling at her for wasting time on eating – therefore she hadn't dared to even stand up and walk towards the coffee machine to pour herself a little beverage refreshment. It wasn't that Uzumaki-san was a fearful man who showered terror around her being but she didn't want to risk any chances of her losing a job she had just received.

Heaving a tired sigh – along with a tinge of hunger deep inside that breath – she swung her head to the direction of his office doors, seeing the glass sparkle with a glint on it's pearly surface. He left awhile ago… I don't think he's coming back soon… Hinata couldn't help but lowered her gaze to the paperwork on her table, seeing the beautifully aligned curves and lines to form words in a sentence and such.

_**Yappari… it is him after all… Naruto-kun…**_

Without even a tinge of realization, a single tear managed to grace her flushed cheek and fall delicately on top of her desk – forming a small puddle suit as more of them gushed down like an untamed stream of river. Her heart ached as though it were being torn into pieces with two bare hands. Her brain seemed to not fully function for her sight kept getting fuzzy while her body warm on the outside but biting cold pulsing through her veins.

_**Doshte… why doesn't he remember me? D-Doshte?!**_

Her breathing came out in puffs as her sobs began to get louder. She could feel her body vibrating with such intensity, trembling like a lost puppy with coldness enveloping her whole self. Her tears fell like the droplets of pure rain in a never ending frenzy and her fingers found their own will to curl amongst themselves and form a tight clutch on her wrinkled blouse.

_**Is it truly you, Naruto-kun? Is it really you…? Has five years been so long until you can't even recognize me? Have I changed so much? Or have you…?**_

Raising a hand to her pale face, she quickly brushed the remaining salty liquids that littered her once covered features and stood up – deciding a cup of warm coffee is what she desperately needed to cover her emotions before he got back. Before she could face him again. Before she could gaze into those mesmerizing orbs that were an exquisite shade of blue. Before she could glance to those golden locks and see the new him. Before she could… address him as Uzumaki-san and pretend that the name was foreign to her tongue.

The palm of her heels clashed against the tiled floor, her knees buckling with one another for she found it rather difficult to stand up straight all of a sudden. Her whole body somehow found itself numb to the heated air rushing from the open windows of the building – causing her blood to feel abnormally chilly. She raised a hand to her forehead, practically cupping the beating skin. She could faintly feel her veins pumping wildly, causing the adrenaline to rush with intense speed to her head. She had the inconvenient feel to vomit.

Her fingers managed to land on the side of the coffee machine, balancing her posture as she took in deep breaths to calm herself. She found her whole body to be throbbing everywhere but her heart was moving in a slower pace than usual. She used her free hand and gripped the part of her chest where the beating organ was supposedly placed, her skin barely feeling the beats. As though it were not there. Hinata gasped.

_**W-What's happening to me…? M-My body… m-my head… everything hurts…**_

Her palms released their firm grip on the soft piece of fabric before snaking up and cupping both of the sides of her pulsing head. Her milky orbs were snapped wide open and her moist lips were far apart from one another as she tried her best to maintain her balance as well as endure the pain going through her brain. Her back landed roughly onto the table holding the beverage maker – using it to support her weight while she tried to dispose of the major headache she was currently experiencing.

Her vision became even more unclear as her sight caught two images instead of one. She saw as though her world was on a boat during a violent storm, swaying right to left and causing her to feel nauseous. _**N-Naruto-kun… h-help…me…**_

"…Move…"

Her head went back with such force – the impact of the back of her already pained head merely inflicted even more agony to her trembling body - as she slowly turned to her left and faintly captured the image of a man with an astounding bed of red wine locks. He seemed to be slightly taller but though she could barely make out his image, she was instantly sucked into what seemed to be aquamarine pools that were his eyes.

They were sharp, intoxicating and seemed to be forcing her inside and keeping her hold in them. They were unpleasant, fearful and terrifying but at he same time, she couldn't bear to tear her gaze away from the surprising orbs. She heard a sigh coming from his direction.

"I don't like repeating myself… _move_…"

Hinata slowly swallowed a chunk of her saliva, attempting to damp her dry throat that somehow felt like sandpaper rubbing ferociously onto her fragile throat. She turned fully to face the man and raised a hand forth, eyelids halfway closing as her vision became worse. She could practically see three images of the man dancing before her eyes. Her feet began having a mind of it's own and started moving closer to the unknown male.

"… What are you doing…?"

Hinata ignored that comment and continued her slow pace, shortening the gap between them. "H-Help me… _please_…"

With those words breathed out of her mouth in a single mutter, her world crashed down upon her self and the surroundings began getting darker. She heard a slight gasp of panic and footsteps rushing to her side. Her sense of sight was beginning to turn weak while she felt the warm touch of someone's hand shaking her body lightly to cease her from fainting. The warmth felt so inviting as though it were a lullaby she couldn't refuse. Finally, Hinata lost the strength to maintain her consciousness. She allowed her eyelids to droop as her world completely disappeared from her sight.

_**Naruto-kun…**_

* * *

"Hinata-san… are you awake?" 

The faint noise of a fan whirling above her while the smell of thorn covered roses filled her nostrils. She slowly fluttered her eyelids open slowly as her vision began to stable. Her surroundings were starting to reappear clearly and she blinked a few times to expel the drowsiness away. She moaned silently for her head was aching a little. She stared ahead, the three bladed fan spinning violently in front of her. Gathering her strength softly, she used her limp arms to push herself in a sitting up position and lean on what seemed to be the headboard of a bed.

"Ah, _yokata_. You're awake. How're you feeling?"

Hinata gracefully turned her head to the source of the concerned voice and was slightly surprised to see a grinning Temari there, a bowl filled with what seemed to be water cupped firmly in her grasp.

"T-Temari-san…" mumbled the navy haired girl, lavender eyes boring through the sandy haired woman. "_Doko da… koko wa_?"

Temari flashed a smirk in response before standing up and walking towards an oak wood table, gently placing the bowl she previously held on top of it. "_Daijoubu_. You're at the company's health room. Maybe you didn't realize it but you passed out near your work station…"

Hinata lowered her gaze and played absentmindedly with the comforters that hid her slender legs. "… _Sokka_…" _**Passed out? Doshte? Why did I pass out? I wasn't sick… I just felt… dizzy and tired for some reason…**_ Like a bolt of fast lightning, Hinata gasped and faced worriedly to the dirty blond woman.

"How long have I been here? Have I been out long? Oh no, Naru-… I mean, Uzumaki-san's gonna be_ so_ angry when he notices I'm not at my desk doing my-…"

"_Ikara_, Hinata-san. I told Gaara to tell Uzumaki-san you're here and not to worry."

The young Hyuuga raised a questioning eyebrow. "…G-Gaara? _Dare da_?"

"Oh, he's my younger brother. You met him before. Remember, when you came here for your interview and you both accidentally bumped into each other?"

At that memory, Hinata couldn't resist to smear the color of deep red onto her fair cheeks. She couldn't seem to erase the mesmerizing sight of his amazing eyes. Neither could she forget his features at all… He seemed to have reserved a spot in her mind and permanently staying there, not allowing her to forget his identity in anyway. She found it rather strange as to why he was so mysterious until she couldn't forget him – not even his deep demanding and uncontrollable voice.

"You scared both of us back there, Hinata-san. Do you easily get light-headed or is fainting your hobby?"

"… _Both_ of us…?" _**Who else was worried besides Temari-san? Could it be… N-Naruto-kun…?**_

"Yeah, me and Gaara. He's not used to seeing people unconscious so he was pretty lost on what to do with you so he carried you to me and helped me take you here. Ano _baka_. Sometimes, he surprises me. One time, he acts all tough and seems like he can take care of himself but at another time, he can be as confused and lost as an alone deer in a busy town." She let out a chuckle after that.

Hinata, on the other hand, was truly shocked and surprised. …_**G-Gaara-san… h-he c-carried m-me…? D-Doshte…? Why would he help out a s-stranger…?**_

Temari seemed to hint the shock feeling rushing through the navy haired woman and went to her aid, holding a concern expression. "Hn, _doshta_Hinata-san? Do you still feel unwell? Do you want to take a pain killer?"

The said girl raised a hand and gently placed it on her warm forehead, feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks and causing her features to glow in an exquisite light of scarlet. "…_H-Hai_, please. That would help this headache tone down maybe…" Temari nodded in response and walked towards the direction of the metal door that became a barrier of this solitude area with the bustling surroundings of the outside.

"_Choto matte kudasai_. I need to rush to my office and get the pills there. Just rest for awhile till I came back. And don't even think about getting up. You might collapse again if you do." And before the young Hyuuga could mouth out a protest or even a word of gratitude, the sandy haired woman was gone and left her alone with the floral scent floating about.

Hinata focused her gaze onto the ceiling, allowing her mind to wander around aimlessly for she was truly lost on her current condition.

_**Gaara-san… he seemed so cold to me on our first encounter… then he helps me. Which is his true self? And why did I suddenly lose consciousness? It couldn't be the stress… I only worked for a few hours… Maybe it was because I was hungry…? N-Naruto-kun… why wasn't he worried? Could it be that he doesn't feel sorry for me because he doesn't remember me? Why doesn't he remember me…? I haven't changed my appearance and not many people have lavender eyes…? Gah, my head hurts again…**_

She was brought back down to the real world when the sounds of the metal door being slowly opened was heard. Hinata averted her gaze to the source of the noise and blinked a few times. "…T-Temari-san? Is that you?" The creaking sounds it made as it slowly was pushed back, she could faintly see the shadow of the person stretching across the room's clean floor. The door finally revealed her visitor and Hinata gasped upon realizing whom it was.

The chimes of the clock signaling the time echoed throughout the empty room, the sun's rays providing warmth and light – creating a comfortable aura to the shallow space – and the faint swings of the fan blades were all vanishing from her sense of shearing as she focused all of her mind and senses to the person standing before her very eyes.

_**Mazaka… N-No… this couldn't be real…**_

Her throat became dry like she hadn't drank for years, her voice resisting to come out and her body weakening with just his presence. Her mind forced herself to believe this man, the man she vowed to forget, the man who threw away her trust and care for him like rubbish, the man who crushed her happiness and forced herself to run away and never look back, was actually standing in front of her and having a locked eye controversy with the timid woman but her heart said this was no fantasy but hardcore reality itself. She finally found it in herself to voice out something and say at least a syllable to him. She parted her pale cracked lips.

"…_N-Neji_… n-nii-san…"

Neji walked forth a few steps before bowing stiffly and rising back up to meet eyes once more with the family member he betrayed and threw away five years ago.

"_Sashiburi_… Hinata…"

* * *

Alright, there you go. Again, sorry for the late update but hopefully next chapter will be faster. Again, I have to delay Neji and Hinata's talk. Sighs. Don't worry. It'll come next chapter. Also, Hinata fainting is a big impact in this fic later on. It'll lead to something, not saying what. Anywho, hope you liked this chapter and I promise NaruHina fluff next chapter! Lot's of it! Also, the reason I didn't detail Hinata's feelings on Naruto not remembering her is because I'll do it next chapter. I left some SasuSaku here. Might add another side couple next chap. As usual, please leave a review and tell me your opinion and again, criticism is appreciated. So, **review, review, REVIEW!**

Japanese words:- ( I used a lot in this one xD)

- sugoi – amazing

- sumimasen – excuse me/sorry

- ohayo gozaimas – good morning

- nanda to – what did you say?

- nani – what?

- dame da yo - don't do it

- hai - yes

- arigatou – thank you

- kuso – a curse commonly used

- daijoubu – it's alright/I'm fine

- ossai – you're late

- gomen - sorry

- konichiwa – good afternoon/evening

- sashiburi – long time no see

- genki desu ka – how are you?

- genki des – I'm fine (in response)

- nanda sore – What're you talking about?

- yare, yare – my, my

- matte - wait

- itadakimasu – let's eat

- yappari – I knew it

- doshte - why

- yokata – thank god

- doko da koko wa – where am I?

- sokka – I see

- ikara – it's fine

- dare da – who's that?

- mazaka – it can't be

- chotto matte kudasai – please wait for awhile

- estrellaz -


	5. Mending and Creating

**A/N:** A big heartfelt apology to all my readers and reviewers for this extremely late update! I desperately tried to finish this before Christmas but I guess I got distracted. School's starting next Thursday so hopefully I'll post the next chapter before then! Also, I'm currently reading the Naruto manga and watching the Naruto episodes along with the Shippuuden just for the fun of it. I'm addicted to it now and yes, I have turned into a Narutard. Well, actually a Gaara-tard but whatever. XD

Moving on, a big thank you to my chapter 4 reviewers – DarkMoon1025, lil.ramen.lover, disneyrulz23, hyuuga's pale rose, creaturekid, RasenganFin, taintedlegacy, darktankMe want mochi and MiNKy307. This fic is happily improving (I hope) but I was pretty dissapointed for nearly half of the reviewers didn't review. So, please, I appreciate you adding this on alerts and such but please leave a review as well. It helps me a lot in my writing and it pumps me more to write the next chap so if you want faster updates, you're gonna have to review! –smiles- Anywho, this is for all who support this fic and me, I give you chapter 5!

**Pairings: Naruto/Hinata – Sasuke/Sakura – Neji/Ten-Ten – Shikamaru/Ino – minor Kakashi/Anko and possible onesided Gaara/Hinata later on.**

**Warning: Slightly OOC but not that much.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything because if I did, Naruto and Hinata would be on the same team instead of Sakura. xD**

'blah' – speaking

_'blah'_ – japanese words/flashbacks/emphasis

**_'blah'_** – thoughts

* * *

Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter Five

The soft, warm wind of Konoha blew the silky strands of her navy locks as the sun shone brightly above her, causing a small drop of sweat to trickle down her fair smooth skin. Her heels clacked loudly against the rough surface of the pebbled floor, rocks of various sizes scattered freely amongst the wide space as the tip of her pointed shoe kicked them absentmindedly. Her misty irises darted forth, gazing to the bustling city down below from the top most floor of one of the most rising industry in all of the nations combined. Her fingers curled themselves around the icy metal of the railings that assured safety as she heaved a soft sigh.

"_Otousan_… and Hanabi… h-how are they?"

Her ears could faintly absorb the sound of a small chuckle coming from behind, followed by a depressed sigh. "You still care about them after so long? … They're doing fine. Hanabi's doing very well in her private school and the Hyuuga business is forever increasing, thanks to the partnership they have with other companies."

A small smile graced her pink lips, feeling relieved to know her family is doing well – a little hurt though that they didn't seem to take concern on her disappearance. _**Otousan… Hanabi… Glad to know you're doing fine…**_

"Five years have changed you a lot… Hinata-_sama_…"

Her eyelids shut tight upon hearing that certain suffix added behind her name, as though it were a deadly poison she wished to dispose of. She turned around slowly, relieving her sight once more to face the stern expression of the man she once recognized and was once proud to call him a blood-related family member. Her lavender orbs shot through his own pair of fearsome milky eyes, both gazes locked and the world around them began to melt away from their presence.

"Really? Funny, I feel like I haven't changed a bit… Neji nii-san."

To these words, Neji let out a chuckle, stuffing his fingers deep into the burrows of the pockets belonging to the dark slacks he wore. "You're not stuttering when you speak anymore. Are you really the Hinata I once knew?"

"No," replied the navy haired girl, gaze hardening and eyebrows crossed towards the bridge of her nose. "You never knew the real me, Neji nii-san… The Hinata you once knew is gone… because _you _threw her away."

"You're still reliving on the past. Typical Hinata to always reminisce what had happened instead of fixing what's going to happen."

"When a person you consider dear to your heart abandons you when you need that person the most… a memory like that is hard to forget…"

The long chocolate tresses of Neji flew in rhythm with the wind, his eyes never leaving the soft light purple irises of his cousin, his playmate, the person he once vowed to protect and be happy with and the only person who understood his pain and guided him through it. He swallowed a chunk of his saliva as he absorbed the fact that the woman standing before him was not the fragile girl who would shy away from the crowd any longer but a new butterfly that has escaped the clutches of the cocoon that kept her away from being herself.

He lowered his head, the memories of his childhood that was shared with her played through his mind like a tape recorder. He could still remember the gentle smile she'd give especially for him, the warmth of her hands when she healed any of the wounds he received, the shine that was deeply embedded on those smooth yet entrancing pools of lavender that glowed even during the toughest moment. His fingers gripped around each other as he restrained the anger and betrayal he felt, looking back to her with fire burning in his once calm orbs.

"How could you, Hinata?! How could you betray the people that raised you, the people you called a family for a… a… a _boy_ we didn't even know anything of! A boy you called a best friend and was willing to throw away your position as the heir of the Hyuuga industry! You never even told us the name of this… bastard that changed you!"

"I had a reason why I wouldn't want to tell you about him and me!" yelled the young Hyuuga, own eyes blazing with rage as she defended the friendship she still harbored in her heart. "We both knew my father would never allow me to befriend someone who didn't have a rank higher then the Hyuuga's. He wouldn't even let me be friends with anyone except the children of his business partners!"

"Hiashi-sama had reasons to prevent you from mixing with the wrong people. Imagine what people would say if they heard the heiress to the famous Hyuuga industry being friends with… underclass people."

Hinata lowered her gaze and turned her glare to a solemn frown whilst her mind replayed the loneliness she felt during her childhood before her blond best friend entered her life. Playing all alone with no one to laugh and form a conversation with, nobody that wished to share their lunch with her, only the silence acted as her companion a long time ago. But as though a knight saving a princess from a tower, he came and swooped her away from all that solitude and showed her the shine of his friendship.

He was the first person to greet her, the first person to not bow down to her upon first glance, the first person who invited her to consume their meals together, the first person who opened her eyes on how fun life can be. He was the first ever person that showed her no one deserved to feel alone – no matter who that person was.

"Tell me one thing, Hinata," stated Neji with a smirk, glare boring through Hinata like a sharp arrow hitting it's target. "Was that bastard worth giving up your entire future for?"

Hinata gritted her teeth as tears began pooling amongst her misty eyes, her body trembling with the soft wind blowing her navy tresses across the shivering surface of her blush-tainted cheeks. "First of all, never call him that ever… ever! Also… h-he wasn't the only reason I ran away from home… away from my family…"

"What? What other pathetic excuse you can cough out to explain you irresponsible actions?! What other unacceptable reason can you give me as to why you left Hiashi-sama, Hanabi… the whole Hyuuga family… and me…"

Tears were streaming down her face as she hung her head low, feeling her energy weakening every second she was in the same presence with him. "I-I had to, Neji nii-san! I w-was forced to! _Otousan_ was expecting too much out of me! He was controlling my life… He even had my husband chosen by him without even knowing my opinion! And I was only eighteen…"

"Then why didn't you tell me, Hinata!? You knew I'd help you!"

Amongst her tears, Hinata forcefully let out a sarcastic laugh as she glared to Neji's milky eyes that had been smothered with redness. "Help me? You were one of the main reasons I left!" To the harsh tone of the young Hyuuga, Neji was startled to the rise in volume of her usual tone. He was also bewildered to the accusation she spat aggressively to him. Raising an eyebrow, he merely gave a questioning look towards the woman who had salty tears streaming down her face.

Hinata tried to maintain her posture as she faced Neji properly.

"I trusted you… I trusted you with everything I had. If you cared so much about me, why'd you have to agree in sending me to Suna? Why'd you agree in sending me to Suna when you knew I was happy living in Konoha?!"

Neji lowered his gaze and hid his shame in a defensive manner. "I was forced to… Hiashi-sama…he'd… if I didn't agree with him, he'd despise me more than he already does… My father wanted me to be happy no matter what. How can I be happy if I'd always receive threatening looks from his own brother?"

"So for your selfish reason, you're willing to throw me to some place I don't know anything about?" Her chest tightened as her hurt could be seen through the pained expression she beheld on her pale features. "I thought you and I were family… families don't abandon one another."

"Try putting yourself in my place, Hinata!" yelled the elder Hyuuga, his own pain forging itself into the inner depths of his eyes as his voice was poisoned with the loneliness and solitude he was forced to endure at such a young age. Losing a father and a mother would've been tough for any child but being left alone in a sudden manner was too much. Neji lowered his gaze, fists clenching tighter whilst his teeth bit the soft flesh of his lower lip – preventing himself from crying.

"Your father was forced to take me in when his brother died… He was _forced _to, he didn't want me from the beginning. You might not have realized it but Hiashi-sama always feels uncomfortable whenever I'm near him. It's as if… I remind him of my father… in a bad way…"

Hinata couldn't help but allow the sense of pity engulf a corner of her heart as she watched her cousin strain himself from breaking down in front of her. He glanced back up and she was slightly startled to see his eyes filled with hurt and regret – contaminating it's every inch. "That's why I worked so hard… to prove that I'm worth something and that I can be helpful to the Hyuuga industry. That I can do something to help. And after _years_ of doing so… Hiashi-sama finally gave me some recognition. I was so happy… happy that the Hyuuga's main family finally accepted me and were over my father dying. I could feel that my father was proud of me. That was all I wanted… for him to be proud of me…"

Hinata wrapped her slender arms around her fragile body, wiping the tears to glance once more at Neji. She was taken aback when she saw him smirking, any signs of his sadness vanished without a trace. "Of course I don't expect _you_ to understand. What do you know about working hard? You're always failing so why bother trying in the first place, right… Hinata?" Her calm orbs turned frantic as she sent a deathly glare towards Neji, anger once filling her every being as she heard those venom words spat at her.

"You don't know how hard I worked after I ran away… I ran away with nothing except for my personal belongings which didn't include any money… Nothing at all!"

"Well, who's fault is that? You were the one who chose to run away! None of us forced you too! If you had just followed your father's order and went to Suna, you'd be the heir – loaded with money and servants tending to your aid – with everyone obeying your commands…"

"I didn't want to be heir! I-…"

"Oh that's right," interrupted Neji, laughter following suit. Hinata cringed to the sarcastic tone embedded in his deep vocal chords. "You gave it all up for that idiot who poisoned your mind. What happened with you two? You guys eloped and screwed each other all night long?"

Hinata felt her eyes moisten up again but she tried to hide it, her bangs covering her features from being shown to the man she was facing and currently despising with the utmost intensity. "I prayed all the time that he'd vanish from your life. Ya know, to teach you a lesson and all. Even if I don't know anything about him, I wished that he'd be gone from your life…He must've been one heck of a guy since you willingly gave it all up for a bastard like him."

She couldn't bear to hear the hurtful words he was spraying to her. Raising a shaking hand and roughly wiping the remaining tears that littered her face, she gave one more glare and pierced him with her red stained eyes – gathering all her anger into a sphere and placing them in her orbs.

"You'd be happy to know your wish came true…" Her voice barely audible but more than enough for Neji to hear, raising an eyebrow in response to her statement. One more tear managed to escape her eyelids and trailed ever so gently across her cheek. "He's gone… He left me… He's gone from my life. He left without any trace and now I can't find him back. He's gone and I'm giving up. I give up on finding him, on finding the one person who made me so happy. I give up on finding the one boy who didn't care that I was a heiress and wasn't afraid to be friends with me. I give up… and he's gone… _Happy_?"

And with her final words said, the navy haired woman stormed off – not before purposely colliding her shoulder with his in a rather forceful manner – with tears now running freely and her heart aching along each step she took. She was furious and irritated by the fact that Neji was different. He had changed from the caring and protective cousin she once knew and was now replaced with someone who was so cold-hearted and didn't take concern of her feelings at all.

She rushed down the steps, her sobs echoing along the stairway with the rhythm of her heels stepping against the steel steps. Her hair was tousled up while her blouse was slightly messy. She looked disastrous but she didn't care at that time. Not only was she solemn due to realizing her boss resembled her best friend so much until they could pass as twins but now she was hurt that her family didn't seem to take any action upon her whereabouts. Not even a phone call, just to ask how she was doing.

Of course, this was _her_ father they were talking about.

_**He's probably happy that I left… Hanabi's a much better heir than me. Otousan would be more proud of her then he'd ever be of me if I took that place. **_

Hinata stopped in her tracks and slid down to her knees as she replayed the words Neji spat at her a few minutes ago. She hadn't known he was deeply affected by her leave. She hadn't known how he tried so much to prove worthy of living with the main Hyuuga. She felt as though she never knew the real Neji… a tinge of guilt began to envelop her heart.

"_How could you betray the people that raised you!?"_

"_You never even told us the name of this… bastard that changed you!"_

Her heart wrenched when she reminisced on how hard she kept her friendship with Naruto a secret. She restrained herself from blurting how happy she was to finally meet someone who cared for her as well as she. She tried very much to keep it hidden, not even wanting to say his name for she knew if she even told a glimpse of Naruto to her father, there was not a chance he'd allow them to continue being friends.

But what was the use now? He was gone… She felt as though any chance of finding him was beyond her expectation. She had been searching for years – going through phonebooks, searching addresses, asking people whom knew his whereabouts – all ending with failure greeting her efforts. An image of her boss appeared in her mind and threw away all her thoughts and senses, focusing on him alone.

_**Uzumaki-san… c-could he be related… t-to Naruto-kun… C-could he…?**_

She remembered how sincere his grin was, how smooth his voice sounded and how his azure eyes glinted when he greeted her with such kindness and warmth until she felt as though she had known him longer than a mere day. Everything concerning him vividly reminded her of Naruto in every aspect. Though she hadn't fully comprehended his personality, by the genuine greetings her fellow co-workers addressed to him along with the dreamy sighs that escaped her female companions, Hinata had concluded he contained the inner character of Naruto as well.

This only caused her frown to turn lower.

_**Could it be… Naruto-kun… are you really gone… ?**_

* * *

"_Mendokuse _na. Ano _baka_, asking us to do stupid chores for him when he knows he has to do it himself."

"Hn. Too bad that dobe's our boss. Jiraiya-sama must've been blind when he chose Naruto-dobe to be his apprentice and inherit Shinobi Enterprises." Shikamaru rolled his beady eyes - placing the stick containing nicotine in between his forefingers and gently pulled it out, releasing a puff of smoke along with a snort. The tie that was once straightened and tucked nicely between his shirt and blazer was now without it's tight hold and it clung around his neck that represented a leash instead of an attire of high class. His blazer was tied neatly around his slim waist whilst the rings on his fingers shone under the bright light of the blazing sun perched above their heads. He heaved out another sigh.

"Ya know, who would've thought that the son of the leader of the most fearsome gang could be the manager of such a big company. People used to _hate_ Naruto… now they work for him and some even worship him as though their life depended on it."

"Hn… ," came the raven haired's small response. "Small world…"

Sasuke swiveled his gaze to the clear sky looming above his head, absorbing the calmness surrounding him. He always liked this serenity that engulfed his feelings. It felt as though the whole world was enjoying their own business and no one dared to bother one another. The downtown part of Konoha was much more preferable then the busy and chaotic part of the leaf country. Though he may not appear to be a man who appreciated god's creations, Sasuke always had a soft spot for mother nature's works.

"Oi, Sasuke, we're here."

His onyx eyes darted to his lazy companion then he looked ahead, noticing they had arrived at a local flower store that he assumed belonged to a family called the Yamanaka's considering their name was on the main headboard of the stall. Shikamaru ruffled his hands inside his pockets belonging to his dark slacks, taking out a crumpled paper and reading it's contents.

"2 roses, 3 orchids, 5 lilies and… 2 chrysamtenum?"

"I think the dobe meant chrysanthemum. Knowing him, he can't spell anything that's more then 3 syllables."

"Tch, _mendokuse_ na. Why does he need these seeds again?"

"His hobby's gardening, remember? He'd spend hours in the mansion's garden doing _kami_ knows what…"

Shikamaru smirked slyly and both stepped forth to enter the shop. As the raven haired man's hand pushed the wooden door open, the bell that was dangling loosely on top of it's left corner jingled and signaled the owner that they had customers. Shikamaru's eyes scanned the shop, finding it neatly organized with small labels acknowledging the people which plant was which and what type they were. The cupboards were nicely aligned with various packets of seeds sorted according to their type and with his sharp eye, he noticed they were organized alphabetically as well.

_**Doing such a troublesome thing… These people must be dedicated to this shop…**_

"Ma, _Otousan_, I told you I don't know where the daffodils are! _Okasan_ was here when the delivery man came, not me! Stop yelling at me! Sheesh!"

The two men looked towards the source of the rather loud argument and saw a young woman coming out from what seemed to be the back room of the store with two pots of flowers in her clutch and an amount of dirt smothered her cheek. She muttered what seemed to be a curse and was slightly startled to see them standing there with bemused expression befalling their dark features.

"Ah, _gomen_ ne? Otousan can be a whiner at times." She gently placed the pots on top of a table and cleared her throat as well as fixing her hair to make herself seem appealing to the least. Shikamaru was indulged by the sight of her long blond locks tied nicely into a ponytail that lined perfectly against her slender back. _**She has such long hair… tch, mendokuse na.**_ The woman gave a bright grin and clapped her hands together.

"Ano… _Irasshai_! I'm Yamanaka Ino, the owner of this shop. How may I help you?"

"Yeah, we need to buy a few packets of seeds."

"Sure. What type do you want?"

Sasuke inclined his head towards Shikamaru's direction, as though waiting for his voice to tell the woman what they came there to purchase but his male companion seemed to be dancing up in the clouds for he didn't seem aware of his surroundings. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, finding Shikamaru's state of being daze bizarre – Shikamaru was known to always have his focus – but now it seemed he had his eyes set on the woman in front of them.

Ino found it strange – not to mention uncomfortable – that an unknown man was staring at her in such an observing manner. His deep steady eyes seemed to be more focused on her golden locks for a certain reason, as though he hadn't ever seen such a glowing shade of yellow. She raised a thin eyebrow and spat out a fake cough – hoping that was enough to cover for her scarlet-tainted cheeks and to bring him back from fantasy world. Sasuke heaved out a sigh and rolled his eyes, turning to the racks packed with several containers with seeds filling them.

"Give us 2 packets of rose seeds, 3 of orchids, 5 of lilies and 2 chrysanthemum's." Thank _kami_-sama he was granted with a perfect ability to memorize every event that was absorbed by his sharp mind for the past few hours. Ino gave a nod and began making her way to a rather small ladder and brought it over to the rack. Sasuke turned to his left and the corner of his onyx irises managed to graze over a pot filled with flowers that exposed a rather calming scent. Feeling it's aroma draw him closer towards it, he slowly found his feet being guided by it's refreshing scent – as though they were snakes following the call from a clarinet owned by a snake-master in a hypnotic stance.

Ino drew her tongue to the side of her upper lip as she tried to reach the top of the wooden shelves. _**Kuso, why did Otousan have to keep the orchid seeds so high!? Ah, got them!**_ Before she could rejoice over the accomplishment of retrieving the seeds, her right foot seemed to manage step over her other one – thus causing the world to swirl around in her view. She dropped the packets and tried her best to keep her balance but the gap between her and the floor was too wide so maintaining her posture was practically impossible.

She closed her eyes and screamed as she felt her back falling into the thin air but before she could endure the pain of her body making contact with the hard floor, she felt soft and a rather lean surface catching her and providing her safety from injuring herself. She felt that whatever she landed on was pretty warm – adding with a scent of what seemed to be grass – and she fluttered her eyelids opened only to have them drown in a stunning gaze of concerned deep ones.

"Oi, _daijoubu ka_?"

Ino couldn't help but turn scarlet due to the closeness of his mouth with her face. She practically could smell the essence of the after scent of cigarettes pouring from his parted lips as his worried expression never left his tanned features. She snapped out of her phase and propped herself out of his grasp – Shikamaru felt cold all of a sudden – while giving him a high look. "_Gomen_. I didn't mean to worry you but I also didn't need your help. I could've taken care of myself just fine."

He raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "You were falling through thin air and you were definitely going to land on the floor because there was no way you'd magically conjure up a pillow and land on that instead. How is that fine?"

Ino blushed and huffed as she stood up, brushing her apron along. "So what? I can take a little bump on the head. I'm not weak, ya know?"

"Tch, more like your head could've cracked against that impact. _Mendokuse_ na."

"_Nani_!? You think I'm troublesome? If I'm so troublesome, then _why'd_ you help me!?"

"I can't really stand here and do nothing when I see someone falling. That would make me a jerk and you'd start yelling at me like now except you'd be scolding me for not saving you and we'd argue and turn this whole thing into a troublesome one."

"We're arguing right now! And by the way, I repeat, I didn't need you to save me. I would've preferred for your dashing friend to save me instead. At least he might've had a stronger grip and nice lean arms…" Ino's pools of light sapphire sparkled as her mind fantasized of what could've happened instead of what did. Shikamaru twitched violently. Not only did this ditzy blond just scold him for actually doing something right, she was also stating that Sasuke would've been better then him. Shikamaru can handle certain situations but when comparing him with someone else, he'd get pretty annoyed.

"Tch, he didn't even notice you falling. He wouldn't waste his time saving someone who's clumsier then a clown. Then again, neither should I. It's such a troublesome thing."

Ino's eyes flared with redness as she sent a glare to the pineapple-haired man. "_Nani_! I dare you to say that again!"

Shikamaru gave out a sarcastic yawn and he turned to Sasuke's direction, who was merely ignoring the daily drama happening before his eyes and continue sniffing the lovely flowers before him. "Oi, _baka_, pay for the stuff and let's go. The other _baka_ at the office might yell at us for wasting time here. _Mendokuse_ na."

Before Ino could snap out a remark, he left with a cigarette dangling between his lips and hands dug deep into his pockets. He stopped midway and raised up a hand as though signaling his leave, adding a comment suit. "Ya know, a thank you would've been just fine. It's not that hard. Try practicing saying it. It might help you in getting a nice boyfriend – since you seem to be lacking the sexual appeal department."

Ino gritted her teeth and grabbed a nearby pot, aiming it at his obnoxiously large head and threw with all her might. It smashed itself at the wall inches away from his neck. He smirked and waved his hand before exiting the store fully and was gone from her sight. Ino clenched her fist tight – the friction against her upper and lower teeth very intense – and lowered her head, trying her best to calm the rage that burned within. _**Ugh, Teme! How dare he! How dare he enter my store and act all heroic-like at first then comment on how I should run my love-life as though he knew it so well! That teme! Acting like a smart-ass when all he's got in that large head of his is just air and didn't he see the no-smoking sign outside? Kuso!**_

Sounds of coins falling slowly into a dish can caused Ino to lift her gaze and stare at the raven haired companion of the bastard who sickened her. He met her stare and rolled his onyx eyes, heaving a soft 'Hn' out of his mouth. "Here's the payment for the seeds and an extra for that pot you broke when you threw it at my friend. _Wari_ na. Ano _teme_… doesn't know when to shut his mouth. _Arigatou_."

Ino watched as Sasuke left her store and vanished from her view, forgetting her manner to thank them as an owner should do. She merely heaved a sigh and bit her lip, figuring her father would probably scold her for verbally abusing a customer that way. She ignored that fact, irritated by that bothersome excuse for a man and crossed her slim arms over her chest – suddenly remembering that comment coming from him. She looked down to her slender body and rubbed her hips in a repitive motion with a frown etched on her lips.

"My sexual appeal's not that bad… is it?"

* * *

Night dawned over Konoha in a rather fast motion. Without her realizing it, it was nearly reaching 10 and she was still cooped up in her comfy chair with a pencil stuck in between her navy-blue locks and earlobe. Hinata bit her lip playfully to allow herself a barrier from the sleep demon that called upon her. She blinked her eyelids repeatedly to ensure the sandman didn't manage to get a chance to flicker any sort of powder into her irises and envelop her into a trip to slumber. Her fingers were actively scribbling the daily report of all the funds from each section with the amount of increased rate it experienced as well.

Her bangs dangled loosely in front of her damp forehead as she attempted to pry the hypnotic lullaby ringing in her mind that wouldn't leave her until she shut her eyelids and took a rest. _**Yamete, Hinata! You have to finish this! Uzumaki-san is still in his office and he can't leave until you hand in this report to him. You're not the only one suffering here. Think of others as well!**_ The young Hyuuga shook her head repeatedly to wash away the drowsiness and a determined glint sparkled in her tired misty orbs.

The sounds of pen scribbling as fast as a spider chews on it's victim echoed around the empty halls of the empty workstations that belonged to her co-workers that had returned to their humble homes and snuggled into their warm beds with their heads pillowed by a soft cushion - promising a pleasant rest. _**Gosh, Hinata, stop thinking about it! Stop.It.**_

"Tired, Hyuuga-san?"

Hinata felt a shock engulf her weak heart as she raised her gaze to meet the owner of the notorious voice whom mentioned her name. She was once again locked with the beautiful orbs belonging to Uzumaki Naruto … her boss. _**Such beautiful eyes… Like Naruto-kun's…**_ She sensed him place something on her desk and she swerved to the direction and couldn't help but give a small smile due to the kindness her boss was pouring to her. A cup that had a picture of an oversized elephant balancing itself on a round object with a wide grin spread on it's mouth was embedded on the fragile surface with warm brown liquid contained in it's grasp along with bobbing white ovals swimming freely in them. Hinata blushed slightly.

"Figured you'd be sleepy. This'll help. Especially the marshmallows considering that's what's keeping me awake all these times." Hinata giggled a little and hesitantly moved her fingers to the direction of the inviting beverage. She gingerly took in her clutch and muttered a soft "_Itadakimasu_" before parting her lips and placing the curved corner of the mug in between – allowing the warm liquid to pour nicely through her lips.

She closed her eyes as she swallowed a gulp of the drink for once her taste buds captured a drop of it, she simply craved more. The delicious amount of chocolate along with a dash of milk and sugar mixed with it and the sweet taste of those soft marshmallows just made her feel so energetic, every inch of drowsiness evaporated from her body. _**Sugoi, this is very nice! Uzumaki-san's hot coco beats Sakura's any day…**_

"I see you like my hot coco," came the cheerful remark of the blond man sitting on the chair in front of her, a grin playing on his lips. "I haven't found a single soul out there who hasn't. I guess it's one thing that I'm actually good at and am proud of."

"Ano… I-I'm sure Uzumaki-san is talented in a l-lot of other stuff as well."

Naruto scoffed and played with the mug in between his palms which was now empty and had nothing filled in it's container. "Do I look like I'm talented? Do I give out an impression that says I look like I'm talented, Hyuuga-san? 'Cause I feel I'm not."

"A-Ano, Uzumaki-san, not to sound intruding… b-but what makes you think you're not?"

"Have you ever noticed that everyone takes one look at you and they judge you right there and then whether you're talented or not? Before I got this title, people see me and they immediately say that I'm useless and will not make it in this life at all. But after I inherited this business… it's like they become totally different and shower me with fake praises and presents and all that… I preferred it when they insulted me. At least they were honest. Now… I myself don't know whether I'm talented or not…"

Hinata gave a saddened expression as she understood his dilemma. Not being told the truth and being forced to accept the fake admirations he received must be hard for him. She herself could still remember the false statements her father would tell his companions about her – on how she was everything he wanted in a heiress – but deep inside, ashamed to call her his daughter. She could merely smile and pretend to be what her father wanted instead of being herself. She was trapped in a game where illusionary and blinding people with lies is a must.

An awkward silence was shared between them. She decided to break the ice. "Someone important to me once said," began the navy-haired girl, a soft smile planted on her features with a slight shade of red staining her pale cheeks. "The only person that knows you best is you. He always told me that whenever I feel useless or pathetic, just think to myself and wonder whether I really am useless or not. It's not what people think that decides your talent and your life… it's you. You are the only person that decides that. No one else."

Naruto stared at her with admiration gleaming in his eyes, finding her words carving a deep meaning in his heart. Putting a smile on his lips, he gave a wide grin and displayed his gleaming teeth towards her. "Arigatou, Hyuuga-san. You're right. I'm the only one who knows me best. Whoever told you that advice must've been pretty confident of himself. Is he your husband or something?"

The young Hyuuga couldn't help but turn her expression into one of sorrow and loss after hearing those words. Her eyes shut halfway as she played absentmindedly with her fingers. Through her lids, she could faintly see the regret showing through his features as he coughed out in a fake manner and rubbed the back of his neck. "_Gomen_, Hyuuga-san. I didn't mean to offend you or any-…"

"He was my best friend…" she interrupted, a weak smile itching it's way back onto her face. "He _was_ confident about himself but he'd never brag. He would never let anything bring him down. That's what I liked about him. He never allowed people to chose his fate for him. He was so special to me. _Very_ special…"

"… W-Was?"

"… W-We lost contact after he moved five y-years ago. I don't k-know what's happened to him and I don't e-even know if he's still alive."

"D-Don't you miss him?"

Hinata smiled and blushed wildly. "Of course I do, Uzumaki-san. I-It's just that, I doubt we'll ever meet each other again. It's been so long…" Naruto lowered his gaze and frowned – feeling guilty he couldn't share the pain of losing someone important to him. He hated that, he absolutely despised feeling useless and unable to help someone out of their pain and sadness. He was always one to brighten everyone's day. Seeing someone frown is wrong to him for smiles are much more prettier. He liked Hinata's smile more than her frown. Her smile was so warm, so filled with blissful love, so full of uncountable amount of sincerity. The way her dimples showed, the way her eyes gleamed in tow, the way her cheeks flared with that right amount of red. He himself turned scarlet among realizing he was thinking of his assistant in such a way.

Naruto grinned wider and raised a cheeky thumb up. "_Daijoubu_, Hyuuga-san. While waiting for your friend to come back to you, I'll be your friend, ne? People do say I'm a friendly person."

Hinata's eyes widened as her blush deepened. Did the blond actually realize the effect of his mere words to her whole nervous system. Hinata gulped nervously as her palms began getting sweaty whilst her fingers trembled badly against one another. _**U-Uzumaki-san… as m-my friend?**_ Her whole surroundings began getting dizzy as her head felt light and her heart thumped wildly like an uncontrollable motor.

"Hyuuga-san? _Daijoubu ka_? Your face is kinda red? I heard you fainted this afternoon. Do you still feel dizzy?"

_**Doushte? Why do I feel so giddy around Uzumaki-san? Why do I feel so crazy and untamed around him? It's like… I don't know what's happening to me… I'm losing control of myself…**_

"Hyuuga-san? Can you hear me? Hyuuga-san?"

Hinata sucked in a breath as she felt light when all of a sudden, soft skin pressed itself against her forehead – causing the hair at the back of her neck to rise in a rushed manner. "Hmm… you _do_ feel warm," commented Naruto as he gently felt around on Hinata's skin. The young Hyuuga couldn't take it anymore – if she did, her stomach would explode and her heart would fly out of her chest – and gently pulled away from Naruto's touch.

"_D-Daijoubu_, Uzumaki-san. I-I just feel tired, that's all. A-Ano… I-I have to go. I-I've finished that report you wanted and y-your schedule for tomorrow is already planned. _Arigatou_, U-Uzumaki-san for making me something to k-keep me from sleeping. It helped a lot. _Arigatou gozaimas_!" Hinata stood up from her seat and bowed stiffly towards her blond boss, whom beheld such a surprised emotion. "Ja… _m-mata ashita_."

With those polite bids of farewell said, Hinata hurriedly grabbed her belongings and raced off before her boss could see how scarlet her face had turned. Naruto watched as his new assistant left the room in a hurried manner as though she were late for something and raised a wondrous eyebrow.

"Weird girl…," he muttered, standing up and grabbed the maroon file that contained Hinata's reports in it as he made his way to pack for the day as well. He stopped in midway and raised his eyes in thought, his mind displaying the clear image of his new assistant. "Hyuuga-san's eyes… they seem… very familiar… Could it be… Nah! I'm thinkin' too much. Darn marshmallows…"

And with that, he went into his office and began to prepare to slip into his bed and welcome another blur dream of that mysterious girl he crazed to know about.

* * *

The next morning started off with such an uproar caused by her fellow house-mates. Hinata couldn't help but giggle as she reminisced on the events that happened that breakfast which involved an argument between Ino and Sakura fighting over the last pancake and an aggravated Ten-Ten rolling her eyes and threatening to shoot their brains out if they didn't settle down and consume their meals silently. Ten-Ten was dangerous when she threatened with weapons for as her occupation as a high-ranked police investigator, she had a right to bring out any weapon she desired and guns weren't the only things she had.

The elevator bell chimed as the doors in front of her swung open and allowed herself to enter. She was about to shut the door – not before confirming that no one wanted to enter – but she didn't check enough for a swift figure entered it before the doors fully closed and filled the empty spot beside her. Hinata gulped for she realized it was the last person she wanted to see.

He seemed relaxed that day, his normal death-glazed eyes didn't seem to have the murderous glint shining in them. His hair was more ruffled then usual which caused him to have the morning look. Hinata couldn't help but smile and resisted the urge to let out a giggle. _**Temari-san was right… Gaara-san does seem so lost at times.**_ The redheaded man noticed he was being looked at so he allowed a fake cough and pretended to straighten his tie in order to distract himself from that constant peeking.

"… _Daijoubu ka_?"

Hinata was taken aback to the sudden question that was directed to her. "Eh?"

"I don't like people that ruin my day by forcing me to repeat myself. I'm in a pretty good mood now. Don't ruin it."

Hinata blushed and lowered her gaze as she fiddled with her fingers on the strap of her handbag. Why was she always losing her composure when around men? She sighed inwardly and cursed herself for the lack of confidence she had in her soul. "A-Ano… for helping me that day when I fainted, _arigatou gozaimas_. I-I didn't know what I-I'd do if you weren't there… A-And for causing you trouble on that day, _gomenasai_… I-I'll repay it to you some way."

"You have very nice timing… Hyuuga-san," stated Gaara in a calm tone. His fingers worked swiftly on his cufflinks and his eyes bore through the metal doors as though he could melt them with his gaze. "It seems every time we meet, it's always fated to end up in a bad manner. I wonder how it'll end up now."

Hinata blushed deeply to this and she kicked herself mentally for embarrassing herself several times in front of this man – whom she might add is still unknown to her. She shut her eyelids and bit her lip in order to prevent herself from getting ashamed by another clumsy thing she might do to them. Gaara finished tidying his outfit and tugged the collar of his coat in order to make it look neat. His eyes darted slowly to the dark-blue haired girl beside him who seemed to be biting her lip and focusing on anything besides him.

The door chimed, signaling the arrival of Gaara's floor – much to Hinata's relief – and he made his way out. He stopped midway and turned around to her direction, giving her a rather bored expression. "I'll get back to you on the whole 'repaying' thing. I don't like debts so… it'll be soon. Have a nice day, Hyuuga-san." Before she could bow or even say a word in her defense, the metal barriers began to move towards each other and the elevator moved up once more. Hinata sighed and groaned mentally.

_**Great job, Hinata. Now you have a man that has the stare that practically says 'I-want-to-kill-you-right-now' following you around and waiting the right time to repay him. What if he asks for something intimate? What if he's a psychotic murderer and he wants me to be his next victim? What if he's a rapist and he wants to have my body? What if he's an owner of a dirty club and wants me to work there for the rest of my life? Oh no!**_

Hinata banished all those thoughts away and shook her head._** Gaara-san may seem a bit dark… but I'm sure he's a man of high status and acts responsibly… right?**_ Before Hinata could answer her own mind question, she had reached her floor and the warm aroma of her office filled her nostrils when the doors opened and revealed the rather calm aura of her new work place. She gradually stepped out of the elevator and made her way to the desk which she occupied

She felt a little uneasy for awhile and didn't comprehend to why but when she realized the hurtful glares some of her female co-workers were shooting at her, she was even more confused then ever. _**W-What did I do? D-Did I do something wrong?**_ She gave out a smile and bowed respectively to them but they merely held their noses high and ignored her as though she were a filthy animal. Hinata grew lost with every glare she received when she was stopped by a tall body blocking her path – grin playing on his features.

"_Ohayo_, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata smiled in return and bowed politely. "Ohayo, Kiba-kun."

The young brunette smirked and leaned in closer to the young Hyuuga, his breath hitting her earlobe. "Did you hear the good news?" She raised a questioning eyebrow and shook her head in response. Kiba chuckled a little and backed away from the confused woman, a sly smirk still on his lips. "There's gonna be a 3 day convention at Sunagakure and Uzumaki-san has to go."

"A-Ah, _soukka_. Does that mean Aburame-san will be replacing h-him?"

Kiba couldn't wipe the grin off his face as he tried to hold his posture carefully. He nodded vigorously and crossed his arms over his chest with a cunning smirk etched on his lips. "Hai, hai. But that's not the good news. See, Uzumaki-san is going but he's not going alone. He's bringing someone along."

Hinata was still trapped in the void of confusion, her eyebrow still raised as she showed him her state of being lost. "W-Who's he bringing?"

"Isn't it pretty obvious. Who does a manager bring when he needs to go somewhere important? His assistant right?"

As soon as Kiba said those words, Hinata gulped and she finally understood what was happening and what was _going_ to happen. Her heart began thumping as crazily as before and her mind was throbbing with pain and fear. _**T-Three days? W-With U-Uzumaki-san?**_

"That's right, Hinata-chan! You are following Uzumaki-san to Suna."

Hinata stuttered to how calmly her friend said those words. She tried to hide her blush under her bangs and hid her worried expression with a hopeful look. "_D-Demo_… there are other people going, right? I mean, U-Uzumaki-san has his people and all, ne?"

"Actually, no. He said he didn't need too many people. It's only for 3 days. So, it's just gonna be you, Uzumaki-san and a whole lot of sand for the next three days! _Ganbatte_ ne?"

"… _Nani_!?"

* * *

Couldn't find a suitable cliffie so this ending should do. Haha! Again, once more, I apologize for this unexcusable late update but this chapter was pretty long ne? And I added a little NaruHina fluff there! Patience, people for more will come. Haha! And one of my reviewers, **darktank**, requested me to add a little ShikaIno bit there so it's just them meeting. More will come. If you wish to see one of you fav pairings from my pairing list above have a scene together, review and tell me which pairing and I promise a scene will be there. –smiles again- Anyway, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. I'm not forcing or begging. I'm just saying reviews help writers a lot and you can't imagine the grins on our faces when we see your reviews so make this authoress happy and grinning by reviewing so **review, review, REVIEW!**

Japanese words:- (I lessened my use of japanese considering I used a lot on the previous chap. Sorry to those who got confused with all the jibberish I wrote. Haha!)

- otousan / okasan – father / mather

- mendokuse – how troublesome

- baka - idiot

- gomen / gomenasai – sorry / very sorry

- irrashai - welcome

- kami - god

- kuso / teme – a curse commonly used / bastard

- daijoubu ka / daijoubu – are you alright / i'm fine

- nani – what

- wari – an informal version of saying sorry

- arigatou / arigatou gozaimas – thank you / thank you very much

- yamete – stop it

- itadakimasu – usually said before eating/drinking

- sugoi - cool

- ohayo – good morning

- soukka – i see

_- estrellaz -_


	6. Knowing and Remembering

**A/N**: Hello, my fellow readers. I know, most of you would be surprised that I _finally_ updated. I apologize greatly for this terribly late update. Many things have happened in my life these past few months and it has been rough for me and my family. Firstly, I lost my mother in a car accident at the end of March. She received a fatal blow to her head and she died on the spot. That's my **main** reason for not updating because losing her has been God's biggest test for me so far. Also, I was in the same accident as well but thank God, I survived as well as my brother though my right leg had been damaged so terribly, it is now unusable. Now I know how hard it is to be in a wheelchair. xD Though doctors did say I will regain control of my leg again so, please pray for me! D

Enough of my life story, I again apologize for my lack of updating but now that I'm slowly putting my life back together, I'll be updating more frequently. Here's a rather long chapter for all you readers & reviewers so I present to you chapter 6!

Many thanks to my chapter 5 reviewers – hyuuga's pale rose, taintedlegacy, RasenganFin, Baka Nii-San, Hannyu Arashi, myrthill, Fuebi, creaturekid, Me want mochi, NaruHinaFan10, darktank, disneyrulz23, RoxasZ, winterkaguya, M.O.N.S.T.E.R.EATS.POCKY., rasenbyakuluv, thatDORKK and X ANTI NARUxSAKU X. Thank you so much for your support and to whoever alerted or faved this fic, thanks. Please continue to support my writing even after my long absence.

**Pairings: Naruto/Hinata – Sasuke/Sakura – Neji/Tenten – Shikamaru/Ino – minor Kakashi/Anko and possible onesided Gaara/Hinata later on.**

**Warning: Slightly OOC but not too much. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not even Ichiraku's ramen. TT**

'blah' – speaking

'_blah_' – japanese words/flashback/emphasis

'_**blah**_' – thoughts

* * *

Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter Six

_**B**_athroom necessities… check.

Clothes, undergarments and an extra blanket… check.

Money, mobile phone and personal file… check.

Snacks and Ten-Ten-chan's delicious ebi rolls… check.

Going to a three day convention alone with Uzumaki-san… not check.

Hinata heaved out a depressed sigh as she playfully spun her long, slim colorful inked pen across the tips of her pale fingers – a soft hand cupping the sharp end of her curved chin. Her lavender eyes scanned the messy surface of what was supposedly her neon blue duvet but was now buried with various items the young Hyuuga purposely threw around whilst her mind debated on which was a necessity to pack and which wasn't. Normally, she would've finished the task with ease considering she was known to be a systematic woman who completed duties in a calm yet efficient manner. Yet she found that particular time to be a tough duty. Her mind was just scrambled with different thoughts that simply wouldn't crawl out of her space.

_**C'mon, Hinata. Think positive. T-Three days isn't that bad. It's just three days. Before you know it, i-it'll all be over and you'll only see U-Uzumaki-san at the office after this. Nothing more nor less. Yes, be optimistic. P-Pull yourself together!**_

"Hinata-chan, you done packing?"

The young Hyuuga gently swerved her gaze to the left and drew a smile for her pink-haired mate that had just popped her head through her wooden door. "_Iie_, Sakura-chan. J-Just a bit more though. I-Is there something that you want?"

Sakura gave a sparkling grin to the navy-haired girl before entering said girl's room fully and gently sliding the door to ensure a little privacy for them. Hinata couldn't help but raise a curious eyebrow as she took note on how extra jumpy and excited Sakura was. Even though Sakura was known to be excited and filled with energy all the time – considering her tiring work as a medic at the local hospital – Hinata could conclude that her friend had something up her sleeve and in her mind for her current hyperness was a little alien to her.

"_Ma_, Hinata, are you excited for this trip? What am I saying, of course you are! I mean, obviously you're so excited that you can't even pack properly! Ne?" Sakura still hadn't wiped that sly grin off her thin lips.

Hinata's eyelids dropped slowly as her fingers managed to tangle with each other – consistently wrapping themselves around each other and showing how high her nervous system felt. She licked her dry lips and lifted her soft gaze to her young mate with no sign of eagerness glistening in her eyes. Sakura found this rather strange to her for going to Suna and away from the hectic aura of Konoha was supposed to be heaven in form for anyone with a right mind. Sakura lifted one of her pale eyebrows and pushed back a lock of her rosy hair that dangled in front of her wide forehead.

"Mind telling me why that frown is on your face instead of your usual pretty smile?"

Hinata tainted her cheeks a light shade of scarlet before avoiding her friend's concerned emerald orbs and pretended to be busy by folding random articles of clothing and gathering whatever was beyond her reach. Sakura heaved a long sigh and stretched her fingers up forth and grabbed a blouse that was a rather nice shade of neon blue. She then began fiddling with it and started to fold the attire so that Hinata could squeeze it in her suitcase she was bringing along with her. Hinata shut her eyelids and heaved a mental sigh. She knew Sakura's trick, she knew Sakura wouldn't leave her alone until the timid woman opened up and voiced out whatever was causing her distress.

"I-I feel a little uncomfortable… with this trip." Hinata nervously licked the side of her upper lip.

Sakura blinked a few times, confusion befalling her bright features. "_Doushte_?"

"… Well, I-I don't know U-Uzumaki-san well… going on a trip with someone I barely know for three days is a perfectly acceptable reason for me to be slightly nervous… right?" She continued her little dance with her slender fingers as she traveled her gaze to every single inch her iris could capture except to the woman sitting cross-legged in front of her. Sakura gave a small smile as she pushed her hand forth and took hold of the timid girl's trembling palm, engulfing it gently into her hold and providing warmth and comfort to her dearest friend.

"_Daijoubu_, Hinata-chan. I'm sure Uzumaki-san is a responsible and sensible man. He'll take good care of you and you don't have to worry about the whole not knowing him thing. This is a great opportunity for you guys to get in depth with each other and create a stronger bond between employee and employer. There's nothing for you to worry about, Hinata. Besides, my cell phone's on twenty-four-seven so if he does anything at all that makes you feel uncomfortable, give me a ring and I'll be there before you can even hang up on me."

Hearing those reassuring words pouring out with sincerity embedded in each syllable made her heart beat in a calmer manner and Hinata could slowly feel the nerves in her body that was once tangled in such tensed knots were now relieved of their hold and loosened to move about freely once more. She gave a soft and shy grin to Sakura, lavender orbs sparkling with relief.

"_A-Arigatou_, Sakura-chan. I feel a little bit better now. You're right. I'm getting nervous over nothing…" _**Hopefully…**_

"That's the attitude!" beamed the pink-haired woman, teeth glistening under the glowing light of the fluorescent lamp hanging above their heads. Sakura raised her long arm to meet eye to eye with her colorful wristwatch and her eyebrows furrowed upon realizing how late it already was. "_Ma_, it's getting late. Better finish packing soon, Hinata-chan 'cause you have a plane to catch as soon as the sun comes up. Not to mention Tsunade-shishou put me on the earliest shift tomorrow as well."

Hinata giggled as her housemate babbled about how inconsiderable her mentor was and allowed a smile to crawl upon her lips.

_**Yeah, everything's gonna be just fine…**_

* * *

_The smell of intoxicating chemicals along with the scent of blood trickling slowly filled her nostrils as her eyes boar through the linoleum floor of the facility. People ran around her being in a rushed manner as countless of lives were depending on their help. The sounds of women sobbing with their hearts pounding against their ribcages along with the fake lies of reassurance on the victim's state coming from the doctors were heard echoing around her range of hearing. _

_She shut her eyelids and hid her own worries. She couldn't be seen in such a depressed state. She was a medical expert herself. Appearing with such negative thoughts throbbing inside her mind is a disgrace to all the community helpers out there. But she couldn't help it. Fear and concern were biting her insides slowly, tormenting her with it's advantage to fill her mind with possible images that could be happening in just a matter of minutes. She was weakening, her mental strength was being overpowered by the massive amount of frustration and horror. She couldn't hold on much longer if she didn't know what was going on…_

"_Daijoubu yo. He's gonna be fine. Don't stress yourself so much."_

_She ignored the reassuring and comforting words her friend threw at her, simply shutting herself within the walls of being afraid and not knowing what was happening. She gripped a clump of her golden locks and forced all of her anger and hatred on being here and feeling so helpless. Her teeth were practically glued together as crystal tears began forming on the surface of her mud-brown eyes._

"_W-Why was he sent here? Why wasn't he sent to my hospital? Why here!? …I-I… I can't do anything for him here…"_

_The man beside her gave a soft expression to the broken woman, heaving a deep sigh and patting his hand on top of her trembling shoulder blade. "We couldn't do anything about it. He… The closest hospital was this one so we had no choice. It couldn't be helped."_

_She continued her sobbing whilst he gently coaxed her with warm and soothing words, hiding his own fear and regret to share his strength for the both of them. His own beating heart was thundering wildly, never before feeling this terrified of a situation. Though he never verbally admit it, he himself was having doubts on the chances of him living. No one was informing them of any updates, no nurse came to tell them any news on him after it happened. Nothing. The elder man felt useless as well, the urge to step inside the surgery room and help the medical staff was overwhelming inside of him._

"_I-I… promised her, Jiraiya. I-I promised Kushina I-I'd protect him. A-And now…" She burst into a fresh batch of tears and trembled vividly, appearing weak in front of her old friend. Jiraiya closed his eyes shut. Never before has his eyes caught this woman to be so low in mental strength and optimism. She was always the one who gave him courage and the will to stay strong and positive in life. She was the anchor to his ship, the roots to his tree, the waves to his sea. She was always there, standing tall and well, in front of him – ready to hand out every inch of support she had in her body._

_And now… seeing her so down and broken, he didn't know what to say or do. He felt lost._

"_I promised Minato too, Tsunade. We both made a promise. And we'll keep it. They're counting on us. We can never let them down." Jiraiya whispered, hands rubbing in a circular motion on the blonds' back. Tsunade sniffled and furiously rubbed her tear-stained face. If this wasn't such a serious and deathly matter, Jiraiya would have a ball laughing off to the sight of Tsunade's face that was smeared with make up and salty liquids. _

"… _Sodana. I-I shouldn't be like this." Tsunade let out a short chuckle. "Wari na, Jiraiya."_

"_Hmph," came the stern reply of the white-haired man, a weak smile gracing his lips. "I thought I lost you then. The Tsunade I know wouldn't cry her eyes out and be so weak. Come on, you're better then that. At least, I think you are." Tsunade sent him a glare which resulted in him laughing a little with her joining suit. _

_Not soon after their giggle fest was over, frowns replaced their grins once more and sadness came back into their minds. Tsunade could still see it, embedded in her memory and replaying in front of her eyes. The sound of _**his**_ protests, the sounds of _**him**_ rushing out and saying something about 'meeting her' before they left, the sounds of Jiraiya yelling after _**him**_ and calling _**him**_ to rush back and then, the horrible sounds of the cause of her being there in the hospital then._

"_Kushina…" she mumbled, fingers wrapped together and formed a praying-stance. "Gomenasai…"_

"_Sumimasen… are you the patient's guardians?"_

_The two friends shot their heads up and locked gazes with a petite brunette whom happened to be the nurse in charge considering she was adorned in the uniform. She gave a weak smile to them and bowed in a respective manner, as though she were preparing herself to bombard them with terrifying news. "Ano, Rin-sensei will see you now in her office. She… She'd like to talk to you about the patient. It's urgent. If you'd please follow me."_

"_Wait! I wanna know how he is first," exclaimed Tsunade, jumping up from her seat and staring to the nurse with intensity and hope flaring in those chocolate irises. "Onegai… I-I need to know. Tell me, is he alright?"_

_The young woman displayed a reassuring grin and nodded slowly. "Hai, his condition is stable and there are no threats whatsoever. But…"_

"_But?" questioned Jiraiya, standing next to Tsunade. "Is there something wrong?"_

_The nurse bit her lip in a defensive manner and clutched the clipboard she had in her grip firmly, as though resisting the urge to inform them of something dreadful. Tsunade stepped forth. "May I see his charts? I'm a doctor too so I know how to decipher these stuff. You don't have to tell me anything."_

_She seemed hesitant at first, appearing guilty and stuck in a tight situation like a school girl who cheated on a test. After a few minutes of confirmation and persuasion from Tsunade, she slowly handed the clipboard to the elder woman – fiddling with her fingers suit. Tsunade flipped through the papers and scanned every line with intensity. Jiraiya mumbled something about being unable to comprehend the meanings of the scribbles on the papers but stiffened when he saw Tsunade's expression when she reached the last page._

_Her eyes were stretched far apart and her breathing hitched. Her fingers trembled violently as she lifted her gaze from the paper and landed them onto the solemn nurse. "A-Are these charts… t-true? A-Are they?"_

_The nurse nodded and gave them a sorrowful look. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and turned to face the blond. "Huh? Tsunade, what's going on? What do the papers say?"_

_She couldn't respond. Every cell inside her body seemed to have slowed it's pace and her face distorted into a broken expression. She dropped the clipboard and began to sway around, as though she had been hit with a blunt object and was slowly giving way to unconsciousness. _

_**N-No… it can't be… no…**_

_Her eyelids fluttered like butterfly wings for awhile as she was drained from every ounce of energy she had. She was too shocked, too taken aback to stand anymore. She just wanted to fall and wake up, realizing this was all a horrible nightmare and this wasn't happening to _**him**_. She couldn't, no, wouldn't believe this and she'd push reality away even if she had to. It was too much, this shouldn't have happened to such an innocent young man. She felt selfish, wishing this happened to anyone else but him. Seemed that luck wasn't on her side. It happened and she couldn't do anything to stop it. Nothing could stop it now. Nothing…_

_Her eyes finally closed as her body couldn't balance itself any longer._

_She gave up._

"_Oi, Tsunade!" shouted Jiraiya, holding the blond steady in his arms and carried her whilst she remained unconscious. He watched as she began breathing softly and was surprised to see a tear trickling from her closed eyelid and trail across her face. _

_**Kushina… Minato… Gomen… I should've protected him more, like you trusted me too. I was too late, too late to stop this from happening. I couldn't protect you, Naruto. I couldn't… Forgive me, Naruto… forgive me.**_

_**Naruto… Naruto…**_

"NARUTO!"

Her body jolted up as though it had been struck by a bolt of lightning and her eyes widened with shock. Her covers pooled around her slender waist as her chest heaved up and down – breathing hard and coming out in pants. Sweat trickled down her smooth porcelain skin as she clutched the front of her sleeveless top, trying to calm her raging heart. She turned to her right and curled her fingers around the doorknob of her drawer, yanking it open and rummaging mindlessly in it. She brought out a small container filled with circular pills and popped one out.

Swallowing it in a rushed manner, she felt her nerves beginning to untangle and her limbs beginning to relax. She heaved a short sigh of relief before flopping herself on top of her velvet cushion – golden locks submissively sprawled across the soft fabric. She shut her eyelids and tried to banish the horrifying feeling of the dream. It's been years since that event yet it was still fresh in her dreams as though it had just happened yesterday.

_**Doushte? Why do these dreams haunt me like this? Why is it still in my head after 5 years? Doushte…?**_

She glanced over to the alarm clock that was perched nicely on top of her dresser and groaned upon seeing the time. Yawning and feeling drowsy once more (a sign the pills were working), she fell into the spell of the sandman and was in a deep slumber once again – hoping and praying hard the dream wouldn't come back this time.

* * *

Hinata fumbled.

For the past few minutes, her fingers were occupying themselves by getting tangled with each other but she still couldn't ease the jitteriness away. Her silky navy hair was pulled up into a tight bun and her bangs framed her delicate oval shaped face. Her lavender eyes darted back and forth as she tried to clear her mind of any thoughts that terrorized her insides and made butterflies flutter aimlessly throughout her body.

The sound of the engine of the aeroplane roaring caused her to literally jump out of her seat a little. Her heart was thundering wildly as her knuckles were turning white from gripping the armrest as though her life depended on it. She was afraid, fear was coursing through her veins and making her wish she hadn't agreed on this trip. She shut her eyelids tightly, hoping highly that someone would save her and bring her to the comfort and safety of clear land.

"_Daijoubu ka_, Hyuuga-san? You're paler then usual."

Hinata snapped her eyes wide and slowly turned her attention to the stunning man beside her. He gave a worried expression and she felt herself melt uncontrollably under that tentative gaze. The young Hyuuga gulped hesitantly – the chunk of saliva slithered ever so slowly across her moist throat. She mustered every single inch and ounce of whatever courage that she had left and drew a convincing smile on her lips.

"_Daijoubu _Uzumaki-san. I-Its just a mi-minor thing. I-I'm sure as soon as the plane has taken flight, I-I'll be alright."

Naruto heaved a soft sigh and flashed that dazzling smirk upon his face. "That's a relief. For a second there, I thought you were gonna piss your pants or something."

Hinata giggled nervously. Her heart began to beat in a steady pace once more as she felt her fear dissipating into the thin air, relaxation began taking its place. She found it bizarre, no, completely disbelievable that this man – a man she was supposed to fear and respect – to have the ability to make her feel warm and safe whenever he spoke with that tender voice and locked her under those azure eyes.

She laughed mentally. She was thinking of her boss as though he were a knight in shining armor and she was the distressed princess that was always in a pinch. He was the only thing that could calm her – a raging sea that was unpredictable and out of anyones' control. Hinata faced the glass surface on her right, seeing what she could of the land before she took flight to Suna.

"Ano, Hyuuga-san, is this your first time on a plane?"

Hinata turned to Naruto and nodded delicately. "_H-Hai_. H-How did you know, Uzumaki-san?"

"It's pretty obvious." Naruto laughed. "I've never seen anyone so jittery on a plane as you are, Hyuuga-san."

Hinata lowered her gaze. _**Hinata**_ _**no baka! You're acting so idiotic in front of your boss! You are supposed to be a respectable woman, a Hyuuga for god's sake! Why am I being so moronic and foolish in front of Uzumaki-san? Pathetic!**_ Naruto realized he had unintentionally offended Hinata a little on his comment on her nervous behavior and groaned inwardly.

_**Sasuke-teme was right. I do talk without thinking beforehand**_.

"_G-Gomen_, Hyuuga-san! I-I didn't mean to offend you in anyway." Naruto grinned and unconsciously rubbed the soft strands of golden locks at the back of his head. "In fact, I think it's really… cute."

_**Huh?**_ What was once a smooth surface of white had turned into a deep shade of scarlet. Her face flushed ten different tones of red and she tried her best not to faint upon hearing such words from her boss. _**H-He thinks it's c-cute? Kami-sama…**_

"Ah, Hyuuga-san, your face is a little red, are you catching a cold?"

_**He actually thought my stupidity… was cute. Him. Uzumaki-san… N-Naruto-kun…**_

"_Ne, Hinata-chan! You're really cute! I… like that a lot!"_

Hinata allowed a faint smile light her features. _**Naruto-kun…**_

"Hyuuga-san? _Daijoubu ka_? Na, Hyuuga-san?"

She quickly snapped out of the deep sea of her thoughts and faced towards the worried blond. Giving a soft smile, she nodded with confirmation. "_H-Hai. Daijoubu yo_. I was just… thinking." Naruto seemed a bit unsure but decided to let it slide for he had a sense that his assistant was reminiscing on her friend she mentioned so dearly to him before. He sighed. He couldn't help but feel as though he were guilty for it, eventhough it clearly wasn't. He felt like he knew a way to help her, to show her he was there and he would assist her in anyway he could.

"Uzumaki-sama, Hyuuga-san. The plane's ready to take off. Please wear your seatbelt properly and I shall give the signal to the pilot for us to depart."

Naruto gave a firm nod to Shino and watched as his helper dashed to the main cockpit of the private jet. Adjusting his position carefully, he gripped one end of his safety belt and locked it tightly. Feeling he was safe and protected, the end of his blue orb managed to catch the sight of fear marring Hinata's face. He wanted to laugh. She did have a case of phobia on riding planes. A little out of the ordinary considering it was her first time ever departing on an air vehicle.

The screams and screeches of the engine booming at the side of the plane echoed throughout the pad as the workers prepared it's safety precautions for it to safely fly. He could feel it was moving and in a matter of minutes they would be in the air. The ground below him was shaking as his vision rocked in many aimless directions. He shut his eyes and begun counting from the first numeral to the following ones. It had been a tradition for him and it also eased the queasiness his stomach was forming.

As he reached the number fourteen, he faintly heard the sound of a small whimper spoken beside him. He squinted an eye open and saw the poor navy-haired woman clutching her seat desperately and was quivering endlessly. Her eyes were shut tight and sweat was trickling from her forehead to the base of her chin. He also could barely make out the words she was whispering. Her red-coated lips mumbled a few words as though she were reading a spell to calm her nerves and it was failing miserably.

So Naruto did what he could only think of. He did what his body wanted to but his mind refused. An inner part of himself, a small corner of his heart, a torn piece of his mind screamed at him to help her. _**What am I thinking? I barely know her!**_ He opened both eyes and glanced towards her, seeing her terrified expression as the aeroplane was making it's way upwards. He was torn between siding either with his mind or body. His conscious was practically yelling at him to not comfort her but his other side, an inner self of his sanity scolded him for hesitating – assuring it was alright to help her.

Finally, he followed what he thought was the right decision.

Ever so tenderly, he placed the palm of his shaking hand and gently placed it on top of her clenched knuckles. Prying them off with his rough fingers, he slowly interlaced their fingers and gripped her hand softly. He felt her tense up and face him with those gorgeous lavender eyes but he merely drew a smirk on his lips and shut his eyes with ease. He didn't care what her expression was or whether she thought him as a perverted young man who had nothing better to do then holding a woman's hand - a woman he barely even knew. He didn't care. All he knew was this felt right, for some reason.

He felt complete, with her hand in his. He felt… satisfied, as though he had just finished a puzzle.

"_Daijoubu, Hi-…! Just hold my hand… I'll save you from your fears."_

"_A-Arigatou N-Naruto-kun…"_

"_Just hold my hand Hi-…, everything will be alright."_

"_Naruto-kun…"_

He snapped his eyelids open and felt a headache beginning to form. He groaned inwardly and tried to banish the dizziness his head felt. _**Wha-What was that…? It was like… a memory? No, it can't be… I don't remember that. It never happened… right?**_ A soft grip that itched on the palm of his left hand awoke him from his absent mind. He turned to his left and saw Hinata relaxing with a simple smile on her lips, the tips of her cheeks rising, eyelids shutting away her light purple gems away from the world and the mini dimple forming at the depth of her right cheek.

He smiled. The plane was already stable, they were already in the air, the 'danger' was over. Yet, their hands remained intertwined.

And neither made a move to release their grip.

* * *

Sakura groaned. The rough tips of her pale fingers scratched a part of her scalp as she tried to massage her migraine away. The bustling noises coming from behind her oak wood door caused her teeth to grind against each other – her heart mentally wished that they would just vanish to an uncharted village and stay there. With her eyelids shut, her hand callously searched for the handle of the top drawer, finally managing to grab it and pull it open.

Various items littered the mini cabinet – ranging from paperwork from previous surgeries she always delayed to give to Tsunade-sama to colorful stationery that was left forgotten – and began searching for the container holding her only escape from the busy life surrounding her. She managed to obtain them and drew the item out, feeling a little relieved just looking at the little pills that would wash her migraine away.

Getting herself a glass filled with clean water, she popped out one white cylinder pill and was about to place it at the back of her throat when all of a sudden, her door was bursted open – due to it being so sudden, she managed to fling her pill over her shoulder and Sakura knew it was never going to be found again. Her sharp emerald irises darted to the wooden door and threw a deathly glare to the unlucky person standing there but when her eyes reached upon the said person, her grass green orbs immediately softened.

"Ah! Tsu-Tsunade-sama! How may I help you?" inquired the rosette-haired woman with politeness tinting her voice.

Her blond mentor merely flashed her a grin and waved what appeared to be pieces of white paper. Sakura groaned inwardly as she foresaw more paperwork landing on her wooden desk and soon, it will be an additional burden and inflict more pain to her already throbbing head. "I need a favor, Sakura. These are reports Shizune got from the Sand's Hospital and I need a revision of it to see what the main problem is. No trouble at all, right?"

Sakura forced a smile and shook sideways, her ponytail bobbing along with the movement of her head. Tsunade returned the smile, any feeling of responsibility to finish off her own work left her, and walked towards the young woman's desk and slapped the cursed pieces of important documents onto the steel table. Accomplishing the reason she visited her assistant's office, the blond gave a grin signing her leave before saluting her as though wishing her luck. Sakura cursed.

The thought of writing for hours that dragged endlessly or reading through a manuscript and detailing only the important lines out of thousands descriptive sentences never crossed her vivid mind when she first stumbled upon her ambition to be a medical server. She expected the thrill of saving an innocent life, the feel of satisfaction once a surgery is successful or the excitement of doing various tests and learning new diseases or other health problems along the way. Staying in the office, getting frequent migraines and feeling lousy was not in her job description.

_**Should've been a friggin secretary instead of this if I knew this was my fate…**_

Rubbing her temples softly with the tips of her fingers, she leaned back on her chair and thanked god that the smoothness of its fabric relaxed her tense body a little and eased her aching back. For once, just once, she wished that something extraordinary would happen in her usual routine-like life. She longed for something magical to occur in her daily activities, an event that would change her life in a hundred eighty turn, a person or an object or even an opportunity that would bring a difference in herself and transform her into someone new.

She's been waiting for years for that special occasion but it never seemed to come.

Her romance life was nothing to brag about. All the men she dated were either comfortable with simply being friends, weren't committed enough to take it up another level or were simply in the relationship for sexual activities instead of the actual purpose of commitment. Of course, she was still pure and untainted. She promised herself to only share the intimacy with someone she truly loved, someone she could see being with for a long period, someone she trusted that could shower her with affection unconditionally.

Soft knocks coming from her door interrupted her deep thinking and brought her back to the harsh world that was filled with paperwork. Sakura pouted and brushed the pink-tainted bangs away from her wide forehead and fixed her appearance back to business mode. "Come in."

The door swung open and Shizune stood there, looking as gentle as ever. Sakura couldn't help but smile when her eyes set on the elder woman. "Shizune-san, is there anything you need?"

The raven-haired lady returned her friendly display and hugged her clipboard closer to her chest. "_Sumimasen_, Sakura-san. Ano, you have a patient waiting for you at the examining room. It's his monthly check-up and Naomi-san, who usually treats him, is on leave due to pregnancy. Tsunade-sama requests for you to take care of this one."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Of course," she retorted and stood up, straightening her white coat which acted as her only article of uniform, and walked over to her co-worker – taking the clipboard from her and began examining the details the sheets provided. Both left the stuffy office and strutted over to the awaiting patient with Sakura reading the details carefully.

"Hmm… he doesn't seem to have any medical troubles at all. Why does he need check-ups?"

Shizune shrugged. "If I'm not mistaken, in his previous medical records, it stated that his parents suffered from different diseases and both were in fatal condition which resulted in their deaths years ago."

"Oh…" muttered Sakura, feeling sorry for this young man. Losing a parent was hard enough, losing both must feel worse. She couldn't imagine how this man feels, the pain he must have endured upon losing the two people that raised him up and guided him through life when they were still alive. A loss of a loved one always resulted in solitude and angst as far as she knew. As though they shared a thin thread connecting their hearts, she could feel the grief and agony when she was burdened with the task to inform a family that she had done her best to save a life but it wasn't enough.

"Here we are, room 201," chirped the raven-haired woman with cheer smothering her voice. Sakura nodded and bid her co-worker goodbye with a gentle smile as she entered the room containing another patient she would have to deal with. As soon as she entered the quarters, she knew exactly what to expect. The mild aroma of new-spread bed sheets with a dash of rose air freshener contaminating the room, the silence that was held around the four walls as though creating an atmosphere only for them and the scent of medicines for various diseases mingling with the breeze surrounding the area.

Her emerald orbs darted around, aiming to find the person who was assigned as her patient. She gazed around for awhile and stopped her attention to a man leaning against the windowsill and looking outside without making any noise. Even his breathing seemed to be softer than a whisper but she assumed it was because he was a person who preferred to be alone and rarely raised his voice.

He was tall, slightly lean and wasn't lacking in the muscular department. He had messy chopped up raven hair that seemed as though he added his own style to it by simply allowing the unruly locks to form their own shape. Merely by staring at his presence from behind, Sakura could conclude he was a rather good looking man. Rosy colors started spreading themselves on her fair cheeks, thanking Tsunade mentally for assigning such a nice catch for her.

"Ano…," began Sakura, suddenly feeling like a teenager about to approach her admired one. "Uchiha-san?"

Her ears barely caught the sound of a breath being forced out as she sensed he was somehow… irritated? No, annoyed is more like it. "Naomi-san, after being my doctor for over a year, you should know that I hate waiting." Sakura raised an eyebrow. She lifted the dangling sleeve of her coat and checked her checkered wristwatch. _**I'm late just by a minute and he's making it sound as though it were an hour!**_

"_S-Sumimasen_, Uchiha-san," her voice tinged with politeness as she graced a smile upon her lips. "My name is Haruno Sakura. Naomi-san is currently unavailable and she will be on leave for a few months. Therefore, the hospital has assigned me as your new doctor so if you could please, turn-…"

The man heaved another sigh, this one filled with ignorance and uncare for anything, as he turned around – giving the rosette-haired woman a clearer view of his full being. Just as soon as her moss-green irises landed on his pale yet gorgeous features, her mouth gaped wide open as her face marred an expression that showed shock and distraught at the same time.

He mirrored her exact features and stared in a stunned manner to the doctor in front of him. His onyx eyes were glazed with confusion and surprised as he slowly transported the information claiming that this woman, standing right in front of him looking just as puzzled as he was – appeared to be the same person he accused of being a mad lady with amazing pink hair a few days ago.

Silence surrounded them as both took their own sweet time to process the event happening then and there. Seconds, minutes, hours, it felt like a long time as they gazed at one another – familiarity washing over their minds. Sakura was the one who decided to break the fragile solitude. "… You!?"

Sasuke dropped his mask of shock and replaced it with his previous grim expression. "The psychotic pink-haired woman. Small world…"

"_Psychotic_?" she said faintly. "Who's the one that forgot to take manner lessons?"

"Are you playing dress-up or something? Pretending to be the doctor instead of the patient is not suitable for adults our age. Or should I say, my age…"

Sakura fumed with rage as she straightened her uniform with anger boiling like an uncontrollable volcano inside of her. Her temper was rising with just his presence lingering in the air around her. She clenched her fingers tightly, forming a fist which was ready to await her command and fly its way towards the Uchiha's face and ruining his oh so perfect complex. But then her morals and lessons that Tsunade constantly reminded her on how to be a perfect doctor flooded through her senses and washed away her anger… barely.

"Look, mister. I don't like this as much as you do. However, I have been given responsibility to take care of your '_problems_' and I will fulfill my duty as your doctor, like it or not."

A scoff erupted in between his lips. "I'd prefer my life to be handed to a saner person. Even the janitor would work."

_**Do not burst, Sakura. I repeat. Do.Not.Burst!**_

Sasuke looked back out of the window and breathed out a sigh. "Konoha's employment sure has gone down. They'll hire just about anyone now, don't they?"

_**Stay calm. Deep breath. In. Out. No, don't clench your fist! Do not show anger.**_

"I sure would be scared if you were in charge of surgeries. I wouldn't want you holding a needle anywhere near my body. It'd be exactly like giving a weapon to a wild monkey."

"THAT'S ENOUGH, YOU LOWLIFE SCUM!"

Sasuke turned around to face her with an eyebrow raised and disbelief marring his features. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, _teme_!" Sakura snarled, fingers held together so tightly, her knuckles were bleached white. "You think you're some big shot hunk that can just tell people what they are? Well, sorry to burst your bubble but you're even more pathetic than a person who eats trash for a living! No, you're lower than that, you know! _Lowest_ of the lowest!"

The raven-haired man appeared stunned, words unable to form in his mind. Those words were spoken with such honesty and rage – this woman really thought so low of him. Didn't she have any clue on to who he was? He was one of the most prestigious men in Konoha. Prodigy of the Uchiha family, an irresistible eye candy to many women, one of the brightest entrepreneurs and a highly respected leader. Either she hadn't been exposed to the latest happenings or she simply ignored those high quality facts about himself.

Sakura seemed a little pleased after that – satisfied with the Uchiha's shocked expression. "Now, I suggest you shut your huge and rude mouth, sit down on that bed, follow what I say like a good patient and let me treat your sorry little self so we can both continue with our lives after this. You can go back to being an insensitive prick and do whatever the hell you want, okay?"

With those words escaping her mouth, a wide and pleased grin scorched on her face, she made her way to her supplies and began preparing the tools she needed for his check up. She heard footsteps slowly making their way to the right side of her position, the sound of a bed creaking under his weight filled the utter silence the room held once more. With solitude hanging around, Sakura began recapping what she had yelled and a sense of guilt engulfed her.

He was an Uchiha, a respected and well-known clan. What right did she, a simple medical employee, have to shout out hurtful insults to someone so popular and feared in Konoha? Her emerald irises widened, realization pounding on her like a ton of bricks. _**Oh no! I am so screwed! What should I do? Say sorry? No… why should I? He was the one being rude and a jerk. I don't need to apologize for anything. Still… what if he tells Tsunade to fire me? No! I'm just about to get promoted! I'm not gonna let this insensitive man ruin all my hard work. There's only one thing to do…**_

A regretful and hesitant sigh lingered on the tip of her tongue. She turned around with a needle containing a few centimeters of milky white liquid and walked over to the bed. Placing herself in front of him with a professional look, she took his arm forcefully and pulled back his sleeve – taking this opportunity to feel the softness of his skin. Not only was it fair in a beautiful way, it was as soft as a dove's feather – the feel of it made jolts of tingles rush through her body in a fast motion.

She focused on positioning the tip of the needle on the right area in between his forearm and his upper arm, the sharp point pricking his smooth skin. She didn't dare look at him, afraid he was giving her a glare that told her she would soon be unemployed. The soft breathing he gave sounded calm which was good but still, she couldn't muster enough courage to look directly into those sharp onyx eyes that had trapped her upon their first meeting. After pushing all the substance into his body, she grabbed a piece of a cotton bud and placed it onto his mark.

"That was professionally done," he remarked, sarcasm tinting his words. "I'm truly impressed."

"Well, maybe I took lessons from a monkey."

She heard him utter a 'hn' but from the corner of her eye, she could see the twitch of his lips form a smirk. She couldn't help but feel blood gush to her cheeks, heating them and turning the paleness to a crimson color. Covering her face with the aid of her rosette bangs, she stood up and packed her supplies. She could hear rustling coming from him – he was probably putting his coat back on.

After finishing her task, she bit her lip, an apology preparing to escape her lips. Hoping she wouldn't regret doing it, she decided to end it as fast as possible. "I apologize for my words earlier," her voice barely audible. "That was very unprofessional of me. It won't happen again."

Silence. Sakura winced.

_**Is he that angry? Is he so angry until he can't say anything? Great, Sakura. You did it this time. I should really learn how to control my temper…**_

"_Arigatou_, Haruno-san, for my check-up. Next time, however, please make sure you arrive on time. I hate waiting."

A swing of the door, footsteps tromping out and he was gone – leaving her wordless and feeling queer. Sakura sat down on the bed, feeling flustered for a reason unknown to her. She felt suffocated around him, as though he were grappling her with an invisible hold. She waved her hand in front of her in an attempt to turn her face to its original color. Remembering his last sentence, she was focused on a part he hinted.

_**Next time? Wait, he still wants me to be his doctor? He's not gonna report to Tsunade about my insults? First he says I'm useless then he wants me to continue giving him check-ups. **_

Sakura groaned, her confusion causing another large migraine. She sat there silently, consumed with thoughts concerning the mysterious Uchiha and how he still manages to hypnotize her with his sexy voice even when he was insulting her.

* * *

"Here we are, Hyuuga-san. Sabaku Paradise. One of the nicest hotels here, if I do say so myself."

Hinata agreed right there. She gaped at the sight she saw, transfixed with how huge the building was. It had markings of ancient drawings, proving it had a rather old architecture to it's appeal. Pillars ranging from twenty to thirty feet were placed everywhere, various designs embedded on its marble surface. The coat of white mixed with a tinge of gold seemed to glow under the bright sunlight, making the foyer appear as though it were sparkling and holding great significance to it.

The outside view was phenomenal but inside blew her mind away. The lobby at Shinobi Enterprises was minor compared to what she was seeing then. More ancient markings were drawn along the ceiling as a picture of Suna's trademark logo was fitted in the middle – the crystal tiles winking back at her as she continued peering at it. Palm trees of various sizes were scattered around, adding the paradise feel. The floor was covered with see-through glass as it was blocking a sea of sand. It was no surprise, this was Suna – land of sand.

She sat down on a bench that was carved and handmade from sand and relinquished in the beautiful sight before her. If this was just a beginning of Suna's real and true beauty, she couldn't wait to see what else this wonderful yet heaty country had behind it's back. She brushed a dark bang from her face as she attempted to hide her shifty vanilla purple irises from glancing to her boss who was currently standing at the reception desk – confirming their rooms and paying for the accommodations.

The experience on the plane gave her a moment to truly believe her Naruto was back. That it was her Naruto she was holding hands with, not her boss. Naruto, her true and only friend she cherished the most. Her savior who showed her the blaring light when she was swimming in the dark. The only boy she ever fell in love with. How she wished she had told him when she had the chance…

"Deep in thought, Hyuuga-san?"

Raising her head and gazing in front, she gasped upon recognizing the person standing in front of her – responding to her shocked expression with a mere stoic look of his own. She gazed into those misty moss eyes and felt herself being trapped in those deep blends of sea green with aqua textures. Her lips were moving yet no voice came out. Wha-What's he doing here?

"G-Gaara-san…?"

The red-haired man didn't respond, instead he chose to continue suffocating her subconsciously with his hypnotizing eyes. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his black slacks as he stood there majestically as though he were waiting for her to crawl on her hands and knees and kiss his feet with respect. Hinata couldn't stand looking at anyone in the eye for so long so it was her normal reaction to look away as he continued inspecting her. She felt like a suspect in a crime she didn't commit yet Gaara's gaze was somehow involuntarily forcing her to admit she did commit a sin and confess something she never even did in the first place. His piercing stare caused her heart to flutter in a way – he didn't even need to utter a word. His look was enough to keep her in a scrambled state.

"Rather convenient of me to meet you here, Hyuuga-san," he finally said, relaxing his posture. "That debt would be settled even faster that I expected." Hinata glanced at him and realized he was mentioning her repayment that she still hadn't fulfilled and still hadn't figured out. "Did you happen to bring anything appropriate for a Grand Ball?"

"E-Eh?" Hinata spat out, surprised by his sudden question. **_G-Grand ball? App-Appropriate?_**

"I expected you to understand me enough to remember I hate repeating myself." His gaze was boring through her again. She gulped silently.

"_I-Iie_… Gaara-san…, I did not bring anything classy of any sort…"

"_Soukka_," he muttered and took out what appeared to be a little journal of some sort as well as a slim black pen. He scribbled ferociously in it as though jotting down a reminder for him of some sort. He finished his writing and placed the materials back, looking back to her with a look that sent her to a state of confusion and loss. It felt like he was sending her a secret message, a code only he can crack. She was driven mad by this as her curiosity to what he wanted to truly tell her burned her from the inside.

"A-Ano, _sumimasen_, Gaara-san but wh-why-…"

"Gaara! What're you doing here, man?" asked Naruto as he came to join them just as Hinata was about to inquire the red-haired man on her choice of luggage. Gaara faced Naruto and gave a small smirk as he shook the blonds' hand in a business yet friendly motion. "I have a conference here and Suna's grand party."

"Ah, _soukka_. Well, you must be tired. Let's go for a drink sometime, ne? You need to show me around Suna, dude. This place looks awesome!" exclaimed Naruto with enthusiasm covering his voice. Gaara nodded and bowed with respect as his bodyguards as well as assistant came and assisted him to his room but before he made his exit, he made sure Hinata caught the glance he gave her – sending her a telepathic message claiming they would meet again soon. Sooner then she foresaw.

"Well, at least we won't need to worry about finding a tour guide. Ne, Hyuuga-san?" Naruto laughed to himself yet he was stopped when he saw the dazed expression his assistant held. The way her eyes seemed lost in thought and how her cheeks were slightly tinged with a rosy color. She seemed to be confiding in herself for an answer on a question only she knew. Her expression was filled with confusion and loss.

"Hyuuga-san? _Daijoubu ka_?"

"E-Eh?" replied the young Hyuuga, breaking out of her trance. Blushing furiously from realizing she had spaced out, she bowed in a hurried motion. "_G-Gomen_, Uzumaki-san! I-I didn't mean to-…"

"Haha, _daijoubu_, Hyuuga-san," assured the blond with a grin that made her have an urge to melt into a puddle on the spot. "Thought I lost you there. You must be pretty tired."

Hinata softly smiled with her crimson cheeks still clear on her face. "_H-Hai_. Probably from the plane ride."

"Well, guess we'd better get you to our room now."

"_H-Hai_. That would be a – _NANI_!?"

Naruto glanced at her with a confused look to her sudden outburst but she was replicating his exact look back at him, only she appeared more shocked and confused than he was. _**O-Our room? Did I just hear correctly? Did he just say 'our' room? No, I must've heard wrong. I MUST!**_

"_Go-Gomen_, Uzumaki-san… b-but did you just s-say o-our room?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in an awkward motion. "Opps, guess I forgot to tell you. I actually didn't intend to bring you along to this meeting. That's why I booked only one room. But then, on the last minute, I decided to bring you along to help me and all but then, I forgot to reserve you a room… so…"

Hinata wanted to faint right there. Sleeping… in… the… same… room… as her boss? How wrong was that.

"_Gomen_, Hyuuga-san. I hope you won't feel uncomfortable or anything. I'll give you your privacy. In fact, you won't even notice me. It'll be like I'm not even there."

Hinata groaned inwardly. How could she ignore her boss when she was completely infatuated with him? She could only manage a fake smile and plastered it onto her lips, masking her true feelings.

"_H-Hai_. _Daijoubu_, Uzumaki-san. I'll be fine." _**It's just a few days, you can do it Hinata! Don't be such a wimp!**_

"Are you sure?"

_**H-How bad could it be? We'll just be sleeping in the same room, eating together, watching tv together, bathing in the same bathroom he's using, changing in the same room as him… I'm dead!**_

"Mm. I'm p-positive."

_**Oh Kami-sama, help me!**_

* * *

Haha, poor Hinata. I hope you all can foresee the drama between Naruto, Hinata and a certain red-haired man later on in the story. xD NaruHina fluff in there, just because I couldn't avoid putting a moment for them. This chappie also gave a glimpse of what happened to Naruto. Hope I didn't give out too much. But I think most of you figured it out. DARN! xP Some SasuSaku in there too. Next up, NejiTen. Haha! Also, I think I'm in need of a beta so if anyone would be so kind as to volunteer, that would be great! D Anywho, hope you liked this chappie. Next one will be up asap. So, please leave a review stating your thoughts and all. I would really like to know my readers opinions so **review, review, REVIEW!**

Next chapter: Hinata's stuck with making an important choice and having a boss who walks around wearing only boxers isn't helping.

Japanese words:-

- iie : no

- doushte : why

- daijoubu ka : are you alright?

- daijoubu : I'm fine

- arigatou : thank you

- sodana : you're right

- wari : sorry

- gomen / gomenasai : sorry

- sumimasen : excuse me

- onegai : please

- hai : yes

- teme : bastard

- soukka : I see

_- estrellaz -_


	7. Embarassing and Reminiscing

**A/N:** Again, I apologize for the lack of updates on this fic but I have good news. I recently have total control over my leg again! I'm so happy to be able to use both of my feet again. Using a wheelchair had been a tough experience for me but I am thankful for my family and friends who had helped me through that obstacle and now, I will be forever thankful to God who has given me another chance and I shall remain thankful to him until I join Him one day. So after I got used to walking again, I decided to finish this chapter and continue this fic! I have so many ideas for this and I FINALLY found a suitable ending for it! YAY! Haha! I hope my fans haven't abandoned this fic and I promised I'll update much faster than before. –smiles- So, without further adieu, I present chapter 7!

Many thanks to my chapter 6 reviewers – myrthill, Hannyu Arashi, winterkaguya, taintedlegacy, thatDORKK, darktank, .x, hyuuga's pale rose, M.O.N.S.T.E..POCKY., Music 1s my s0ul, narutos vixen, and NarInu! Thank you for sticking with me and whoever alerted or faved this fic, I thank you as well! –smiles- Please continue supporting this fic as I promise you faster updates in the future!

**Pairings: Naruto/Hinata – Sasuke/Sakura – Neji/Tenten – Shikamaru/Ino – minor Kakashi/Anko and possible onesided Gaara/Hinata later on.**

**Warning: Slightly OOC but not too much. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not even Konohamaru! –cries-**

'blah' – speaking

'_blah_' – japanese words/flashback/emphasis

'_**blah**_' – thoughts

* * *

Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter Seven

**T**he Sand Village had many similarities with Konoha during nightfall. The soft wind that blew throughout the peaceful country was scented fully with the rough aroma evaporating from the mountains of sand covering nearly every inch of the homely suburbs. A cool climate bordering on toasty warm with an added dash of chill to complete a suitable temperature that was simply perfect. The lack of clouds allowed the black canvas of the night to be filled with stars that shimmered brightly as though winking to the sleeping citizens under it's gaze. Everything felt just like home.

Then what was the reason for her laying completely awake at 2 in the morning?

Hinata grumbled inwardly, staring blankly forth to the smooth ceiling that was layered with various designs ranging from what appeared to be ancient Japanese characters probably illustrating the Sand Village's traditional tales to portraits of the village's trademarks which was mainly a beautifully flower that was a deep shade of amber which somehow seemed so calm yet exotic at the same time and on it's stem, thorns that could barely be seen shot out from the tip to its root. The young Hyuuga found herself enthralled in it's beauty.

Seeing it just allowed her heart to shorten it's speed rate by a mere second. That was good enough.

Hinata sighed softly, gripping the silk comforters that provided excellent warmth to her already pulsing body. Since they were forced to an uncomfortable situation of sharing a room together, Naruto, being the gentleman, insisted the young woman to inhabit the only bed the hotel could offer to them. Of course, Hinata tried to put on an argument, voicing out her thoughts on how unfair it was for her, the _secretary_, to take the comfortable sleeping quarters when Naruto, the _boss_, slept on a sofa that barely fit his height. Naruto merely laughed and complimented his assistant on her thoughtful considerations but he protested against it and upon hearing his strict tone, Hinata knew he wasn't going to change his mind.

_**Uzumaki-sama sure is headstrong on his decisions… just like Naruto-kun was…**_

A small tinge of red swept across her cheeks, feeling completely silly on how she kept comparing her boss with a dear friend she had lost. Although there were countless of similarities between them, appearance and personality-wise, she had to accept that they were two different people altogether. If her Naruto was the same person as the Naruto that was in the living room, dozing off into a deep sleep, why hadn't he recognized her from their very first encounter till now?

One thing she was sure off, she hadn't changed that much. She still has some of her habits that had become a trait for her during her younger years such as fidgeting when feeling slightly uncomfortable or shy and blushing at anything that seemed to tickle her nerves. She also couldn't seem to get rid of her stuttering completely although it had lessen over her years of maturing. Her confidence still needed a lot of work and she was a hundred percent sure that her personality was still the same.

Now her appearance had probably overcome a few mere changes such as her height. It's humanly normal for her to be a little taller and of course, her womanly figure definitely got fuller. She still hasn't gone over her embarrassment over her chest size and still hid them as modestly as she could. Her silky navy hair that used to flow until her backbone had been cut shorter till just below her shoulders by a few inches for she found long hair at that time to be a big nuisance. Her bangs were remained uncut though - she found it to suit her the best just the way it was. What remained with her from birth till now was her astounding milky lavender eyes. A Hyuuga trait.

Those were the only changes that she had undergo for the past five years, surely he wouldn't have forgotten how she looked like. They had been friends for over _thirteen_ years. Anyone that has been acquainted for over a decade could tell that person inside and out even by wearing a blindfold. Her Naruto knew everything about her - from the simple minor things she used to express by her shy actions to her likes and dislikes as well as the trouble brewing in her family. Hinata always found the heavy burden of being verbally mistreated by her father to be lifted just by confiding the pain and sadness her heart quenched to the only boy she trusted.

But for an unbeknownst reason, she still couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity whenever close with her blonde boss. He had the same aura her Naruto had. The same presence that seemed to shine with cheerfulness which could brighten up any dark spots and beheld a warmth she couldn't explain which could calm her down just by standing next to her. He also owned that melting grin which sent her brain into a fried state and her nerves to immediately start acting up. The way his mouth seemed to stretch so wide, she wondered how his cheeks weren't affected by the huge smile he always had. Yet, she loved it anyhow. Not to mention they owned the exact same name!

Hinata rolled her position so she was lying down on her side, her head resting comfortably against the velvet cushion beneath it. Her eyes glanced a quick glimpse to the antique clock perched on the dresser directly in front of her gaze. 2.30 in the morning. The navy-haired girl shut her eyes tight and breathed in relaxingly. She had to get some rest. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. What with the grand meeting between all the share holders of Shinobi Enterprises. Biting her lip softly and clearing her mind fully of the stress from thinking on the future's activities, she only focused on one thing. The sound of her boss's snores coming strongly from the lower side of her bed.

Smiling shyly, listening contently to the sound of the rather soothing sound, Hinata found herself getting drowsy and before she could shake it away, she fell to it's spell and soon was in a deep slumber.

* * *

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A gentle hand made it's way to the buzzer above the ringing item and disabled it from making any further ruckus. Rubbing her eyes groggily, Hinata finally opened her eyes and slowly adjusted her sight to the surroundings of her room. As she figured, she still felt tired and wouldn't mind having at least an hour of sleep. But the nagging feeling whispering darkly in her ear on how Naruto wouldn't be pleased if she resorted to procrastination instead of responsibility shook all her tiredness away – well, half of it.

Sitting up stiffly, she stretched her aching limbs a few good stretches before shoving her comforters away and stepped off the bed completely, warm toasty feet meeting the cold surface of the marble floor. Slipping on the furry slippers the hotel service provided, the young Hyuuga made her way out of her room and walked towards the bathroom – grabbing a fresh towel from the dresser along the way. Sliding the door and shutting it tight afterwards, she couldn't help her amazement on the size of the bathroom – it appeared to be more than just a bathroom to her though.

In front of her was a long dressing table filled completely with bathroom necessities with fine quality such as an electric toothbrush that came with it's rinsing cup which seemed to be made from fine china, various bottles filled with lotions of a woman's desire and of course, shampoos as well as conditioners neatly aligned on the many racks provided. Bathrobes along with towels for the face, hands, hair and body were carefully laid according to their sizes – hanging perfectly at the edge of the dresser. And situated right in the middle was a large mirror, so large it could fit the reflection of her full body instead of just her face.

To the right hand side, was a tub so grand it looked like a pond instead of a place for a person to cleanse themselves. Shaped nicely to fit at least five people, Hinata wondered what was on the architect's thoughts when he was designing this bathroom. Directly opposite of it was a showering stall that was covered with four thin walls of transparent glass and a row of silken violet curtains – much to Hinata's relief – that could be used to protect her privacy whilst bathing. She smiled softly to herself as she imagined what her friends might comment on this majestic bathroom. _**Ino-chan and Sakura-chan would probably argue on who could use it first and Tenten-chan would probably say that making a bathroom this grand is a waste of space. **_

She stood in front of the dresser as she slowly began to undress herself. Her clothes were then neatly stacked onto the table followed by her undergarments. Hinata had always been proper – even in a bathroom. Walking into the shower and drawing the curtains to secure her privacy, she then turned to the shower knobs and twisted the one that was shaded red. Feeling the warm water falling freely onto her flawless skin helped ease the tense knots that covered her limbs. She instantly felt even more relaxed. _**Sakura-chan was right, a warm shower is the best remedy for nerves.**_

Hinata grabbed the oval-shaped bottle containing a sweet-aroma milky liquid and squirted a few drops onto the center of her palm and began washing herself. Inhaling the intoxicating scent and giggling inwardly when her skin tingled upon being brushed gently, Hinata felt she could enjoy taking showers during her stay here. She continued rinsing herself away from any filth and she felt her burden being washed away along with the drops of warm water pouring all over her curvaceous body.

She was too absorbed into her shower until her ears couldn't pick up the noise of a door being opened and closed tight. Subconsciously, Hinata started humming as her hands swiftly rubbed her upper arms, observing the bubbles that began to form in a group around it. But then she heard water running – and it freighting wasn't coming from her shower tap. Her violet irises immediately widened and her breath started hitching, her mind being bombarded with the many thoughts she had to what or who was outside. The only logical answer was…

Gulping and praying to herself that her conclusion was false, the young Hyuuga turned the shower off – finally all that filled the bathroom was the soft sound of running water at the other side of her stall. She grabbed the towel and scrubbed herself dry, fingers gripping the cotton cloth so tight her nails actually managed to trap a few strands here and there. Her heart was beating wildly and her cheeks were completely stained with an amber shade – and it wasn't because of the soothing shower she just had.

_**Oh Kami-sama, please, for all that's holy, please not let it be him outside! Onegai! I'm begging you**_!

Deciding not to hesitate and pressure her shaking body any longer, she chose not to draw the curtains back but just dash out and face whoever was out there, no matter how horrifying it could be. Her fingers clutched the handle of the door so tightly, she felt she could never let go. _**Am I doing the right thing? I could just wait until he leaves! But what if he decides to use the shower? Oh no! Kami, no! That's even worse! Ugh, what should I do!?**_ And without fully agreeing to her decision, her mind forced her hand to pull the door open and as soon as she did, she came with a view she thought she'd only imagine to see.

There was, as she expected, her blonde boss… _half-naked._

_**Oh… my… Kami… **_

Naruto seemed to have heard her gasp of surprise as he turned around, clad in only his boxers. His night shirt was still in his grasp as he had only taken it off when he had heard a soft yet shocked gasp. His eyes widened immediately and a blush trailed embarrassingly over his cheeks. In front of him was a fully unclothed woman who only had a towel around her which didn't help her hide her curves – his eyes unwillingly began to fully take her body in. _**What the hell!? Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! You do not look at a woman like that! It's disgusting! I'm such a bastard! GAH!**_

"H-Hyuuga-s-san?"

Hinata's mouth was still wide open, her heart beating so wildly she expected it to explode. She had never known her boss had such an amazing figure. His chest so toned and smooth yet appeared to be hard as he was equipped well with a six-pack, his arm muscles looked so ripped – she had a sudden urge to feel his body against hers. _**OH MY GOD! What am I thinking? That is not good! No Hinata! Get a grip! Don't think about it! Don't! **_Her face was covered from top to bottom with a deep shade of scarlet, feeling her cheeks get hotter than ever. She had never blushed so much. She tried to utter a word, or even a syllable, yet her tongue couldn't seem to respond to her brain. All she could think of was Naruto's amazing body.

"Oh my god! _Gomen_ Hyuuga-san!" exclaimed Naruto, covering himself – to Hinata's dismay – with his shirt and eyes trailing everywhere but her. "I-I had no idea you were in here! _Honto ni gomenasai_! I hope you don't think I'm a sick crazy pervert because I'm not! I have no intention of peeping at you or anything! Not that you _don't_ have a nice body, you do… Wait! That came out wrong! AH!" If this wasn't so awkward, Hinata would've giggled at her boss's embarrassed state. The navy-haired girl moved her surprised state to a shy and completely embarrassed look and shut her eyes tight in case Naruto caught her staring at his god-like appearance. She covered her tomato face with her hair and gripped her towel tighter around her body.

"_S-Sumimasen_ U-Uzumaki-sama! _D-Daijoubu_. I-It's not your fault," God, could her voice get any squeakier? She groaned inwardly and bit her lip to suppress her urge to scream and run out in embarrassment. "I-I should go now…"

"_Daijoubu ka_ Hyuuga-san?" asked Naruto, concern deeply heard in his gruff voice. "I-I really am sorry! I hope this doesn't… make anything… awkward between us…"

"_Daijoubu_ U-Uzumaki-sama! I-I'll be fine," and with that said, Hinata quickly ran out of the bathroom – leaving her boss feeling ridiculous and utterly stupid. Naruto sighed in frustration and rubbed the back of his head hardly. _**Baka! Now you made her uncomfortable. Sasuke-teme was right, you really know how to mess things up!**_ He turned to the dresser and scanned his reflection to which the thin glass displayed his shriveled state. His hands plopped onto the table and his right hand managed to land on what appeared to be pieces of clothing.

Naruto lifted the so called piece of clothing and as he though his face couldn't get any redder, it just turned ten shades extra of scarlet when he realized he was touching Hinata's lovely lingerie. _**Oh Kami!**_

_**GAH! BAD THOUGHTS!**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

Konoha was in a good mood today, the sun was brightening the city with it's illuminating rays, the trees swaying in harmony with the winds as though waving to the pedestrians that decided to take some fresh air and the park was filled with the citizens that wanted a break from the usual hectic and busy lifestyle they usually had. A certain young Hyuuga was amongst these carefree people.

Hyuuga Neji rarely took walks in the park but somehow, when he gazed to the scenery and witnessed how the sky was painted with clear light blue and soft cotton clouds were pasted on it's wide canvas with the sun adding it's calming aura with it's rays, he simply couldn't ignore mother nature's beauty. Since it was his day off from work, he decided to just release the tense and stressful burden he was weighing in his head by willing himself to relax. As he paced slowly on the sidewalk of the park, his mind was still buzzing with the questions nagging his insides.

_**Hinata-sama… after so many years… why have you returned? Why couldn't you have stayed out of my sight just as you have been doing for five years? What would Hiashi-sama say when he hears that his daughter is still healthy and still in Konoha? It would be wrong to not inform him of his daughter's whereabouts… but then again, would he still care? Does he still care for Hinata-sama after she disobeyed him? Would he be comfortable with the fact that Hinata-sama is not suffering as he thought she would be? Would he do something to Hinata-sama? … Would I do something to stop him from doing anything to Hinata-sama…? What should I do…?**_

"WATCH OUT!"

Born with quick reflexes, thank _heavens_, Neji managed to sense an incoming object swirling through the sky and heading his way – somehow Neji could also sense that the item was something that could seriously harm someone. He dodged the flying object in the nick of time, pieces of his brown locks floating in front of his sight as he realized how close he was to getting hurt. Falling backwards slightly with a surprised expression marring his face, his attention darted to the tree at which the object had gotten stuck into. He turned his head frantically to catch the psychopath that threw the object in the first place but couldn't see even a bed of hair.

Neji then walked slowly to the bark of the tree and harshly took out the object only to find it was an _arrow_ but it appeared to be a special-made one because on it's body, mini spiked adorned every inch until holding it seemed impossible. The tip of the head of the arrow was so sharp, he could easily cut his skin on it. The arrow was also made of pure steel instead of wood which explained how heavy it was. The brown-haired man grunted and threw the arrow to the ground and roughly stomped on it, cursing inwardly on the dreaded weapon.

"Hey mister! Quit stepping on _Tooi_!"

Neji turned to face the person who was insane enough to throw something so dangerous out in public and was met with a petite woman with a mean face showing how she was feeling right now. His eyes widened with surprise. How could someone who looked rather frail, a _woman_ nonetheless, throw something that not only should weigh at least an ounce of her size but also so dangerous. He took her appearance in slowly as he took a deep breath as well.

Her hair was tied neatly into two round buns that perched on top of her bed of brunette hair and red ribbons held them together. She wore a rather traditional-looking outfit which appeared to have Chinese culture mixed into it – her top was similar to a samfoo with no sleeves and a dragon print the size of a ruler was printed on the side of the cloth. Her pants fitted nicely onto her thighs, complimenting her figure nicely and her sandals wrapped tightly onto her dainty feet and snaked across her shins a little. Around her chest was a strap that was joined with what appeared to be a case with more of the deathly arrows filled in it.

"Oi! Are you deaf? If you don't give me _Tooi_ back, I'll seriously make you wish you had followed what I told you to do in the first place!" she yelled in a threatening matter. Even her voice sounded childish with its high tone! Neji raised his curious eyebrows, tilting his head to the side and continued staring blankly at her.

"… _Nanda… to_?"

"Ugh, how many times do you want me to repeat myself mister!? I said, get off my friggin arrow or I'll be force to cut off your leg if you don't move in the next five seconds!"

"Your… arrow?" asked Neji, his head bowing down to look at the weapon his shoe still had under it's hold. He then looked back at the woman who now had her arms crossed over her chest and an impatient look shining on her face. Neji heaved a deep sigh and slowly removed his foot and picked the arrow up – dangling in teasingly in front of her. "You mean this extremely dangerous weapon that could've easily sliced my neck and endanger me?"

The woman scoffed and brushed her hand in the air. "Hey, I warned you it was coming! Seems that _Tooi_ truly lives to its name, I never knew it could go that far." She smiled triumphantly. "That's my best record so far. 5 kilometers exactly!" Neji's left eye twitched violently, wondering how this woman managed to spend her time so daringly. _**H-How…? This woman is a danger to not only the public but to herself. Isn't she aware of that?**_ The brunette man raised his posture and gave her a strict glare – tossing the weapon into her hands.

"Be careful where you use those weapons next time. It may be a game to you but you could seriously put a person in a hospital if you play with those in a public place such as this. Not many people have quick reflexes like I do. And the park doesn't belong to you, ya know? Other citizens would be lounging here too."

"Nani!? I am aware of the dangers of my training and I'm not stupid enough to practice in an area where people mingle around!" The woman yelled in a defending tone, pissed off more than ever by the man's attitude. "My training area is in a secluded area of this park. No one knows where it is except for me. It's safe and peaceful there and I'm sure no one wanders around there! Today was just an accident, I underestimated my arrow's speed and I couldn't control it's direction. I apologize for that."

Neji merely chose to continue giving her his infamous glare and his milky irises eyed her up and down – causing her to flinch very slightly but he managed to catch that shiver. _**A woman practicing in a park? And first of all, practicing for what? A war? I thought women weren't allowed to participate in wars…**_ "I accept your apology," his voice filling the thick tension between them. "Just be more careful next time. I wish to return to the park when I'm free again and I do not intend to get killed by your arrows," and with a small smirk, he left the astounded brunette who was so tempted by the devil of her weapons to shoot an arrow and pierce his big head.

_**Ugh, who does he think he is!? Acting so high and mighty. Telling me what to do and what to not do. I'm perfectly capable of being careful! Ano teme! Oooo! I'm so pissed right now! **_

"Tenten! _Hayaku_! It's almost lunch time and we gotta start making it!" called a voice nearby. Tenten heaved a sigh, wiping Tooi with her handkerchief before putting it back with its fellow arrows and her famous silver bow that was her pride and joy. Looking back at the path the man had walked, her anger continued to boil inside her and she decided to ignore ever meeting him and his arrogance – because hey, what was the chance that they were even going to meet again? With a satisfied smile, she turned around and made her way to her frantic friend who was shouting words she failed to understand from far.

"Coming Ino!"

* * *

Hinata heaved a long and tired sigh, her fingers moving to massage her temple to ease her dizziness away. She was forced to excuse herself from the afternoon's meeting thanks to the throbbing of her head and Naruto had been kind enough to allow her to go back to her room to rest. Of course Hinata had tried her best to convince her boss that she was well enough to assist him in the meeting but as she has seen countless of times, Naruto was persistent and was willing to escort her back to the room if she needed it. And of course, Hinata had refused. After that morning's unfortunate incident, making eye contact with his mesmerizing sea eyes was proving so very difficult without her turning beet red.

Another pang of pain attacked her head and the navy-haired woman was forced to grip the walls beside her to steady her unsteady balance. She gritted her teeth, hoping and praying to God that her headache would go away or at least let the dizziness ease a little. _**D-Doushte? W-What's wrong with me? Why am I feeling so sick? W-Why is everything spinning? Am I getting a fever? Ah! Itai…**_ Her fingers poked her forehead as they moved in motionless circles and her massage managed to calm the throbbing a little. Her dizziness was still bothering her, her vision began doubling as well as her balance continuing to be unstable.

Hinata reached her hotel room and unlocked the door, the key card trembling in her grip. Her breathing was turning raspier and the urge to throw up was burning in her throat. Another headache attack, this time she couldn't hold it in any longer. She rushed to the kitchen and held the edge tightly as she dove forward and threw up her stomach's contents – her lunch not looking so delicious anymore. After a few seconds had passed, her insides felt empty and the nauseous feeling had disappeared as Hinata wiped her mouth clean with a tissue. She turned on the tap and washed her waste away, adding a little soap to clean the stench away as well.

_**I really am coming down with something… At least my headache's gone… Did I eat something wrong? I was fine yesterday… I'm sure it's just because I'm tired… demo… I have never gotten such a painful migraine before. Maybe I should check with a doctor when I go back to Konoha. I could ask Sakura-chan to help examine me, even if it's nothing big. **_

The young Hyuuga heaved another sigh, droplets of water scattered around her upper lip. Her mind bordered between going back to the meeting since she was feeling better or coop herself in her warm room and lie down on her heavenly made bed and drift slowly to a peaceful place where she could just rest and escape the world. She chose the latter. Making her way to her room, something on the coffee table caught her eye. It was a rather large box with a red ribbon beautifully wrapped around the body with a small flower perched in the middle.

Hinata made her way cautiously to the box, worrying it would suddenly explode in front of her or someone would come out and kidnap her just as she was approaching the bait. Shaking her illogical thoughts, she picked the box up and realized it was rather light. _**That excludes the bomb thing then… thank Kami!**_ Hinata giggled to her own silly mind and caught sight of a small piece of paper stuck at the corner of the lid. She raised her curious eyebrow and carefully read its contents.

'_Hyuuga-san, meet me in front of the grand ballroom in the west wing of this hotel at 7.30 sharp tomorrow. As you'll see, there's a gown prepared for you in this box along with other accessories which would compliment you nicely, I hope. Please wear these items without hesitation as these are gifts provided by me. I don't tolerate people who are not punctual and not smart enough to know that I dislike being treated as a fool. Do remember these facts._

_Sabaku Gaara._

_P.S - Consider this as your debt repayment.'_

Hinata reread the note countless of times to confirm that the message on it was true – she also read the name scribbled at the end to ensure she wasn't dreaming he would send her such an unexpected letter. And without a doubt, Sabaku Gaara had written it. The Sabaku Gaara. The same person who had such a cold aura surrounding him until she trembled whenever close. The same person who she had accidentally ruined his clothes with his very own coffee. The same person who owned a pair of deep sea green eyes that could instantly grab her attention with its tentative soft color and the small flame of warmth it owned.

_**Gaara-san… what is he thinking? W-Why did he send me a gown? And why does he want me to be at the grand ballroom tomorrow? **_She then gasped with unbeknownst shock when she managed to grasp an idea on what he wanted her to do._** Mazaka! H-He wants me to be h-his d-date there? No! No! No! That can't be right! Gaara-san wouldn't ask me to do something so crazy! Would he…?**_

Biting her lip with deep thought, she then looked back to the box. W-Well, since it is here and it was addressed to me… I could take a peek at the gown… She carefully placed the box in her lap, feeling its soft weight on her thigh and slowly began to unwrap the bow. The box was perfectly decorated, she felt it a huge shame to have to untie the ribbon but how else could she see the gown? The navy-haired woman pulled the flower gently and smiled at the flower. It was Suna's national flower. The same one that was illustrated perfectly on the ceiling in her hotel room. She placed at the side and gently opened the lid – her heart hammering against her ribcage, wondering what the gown looked like.

She caught her breath instantly upon seeing it.

It was _beautiful._ Hinata was struck with shock as she delicately took it out of the box, standing up due to its length. It was pale lavender, a color she found suited her skin tone very well. Straps made of soft fabric dangled nicely on the upper part of the gown which was joined together firmly. The center was cut nicely into a 'V' shape and a quarter of the dress was adorned with majestic patterns of lace with a few silver leaves plastered on it. The behind would gracefully show her back a little which was rather uncomfortable for Hinata as she preferred to not show too much skin. A modest girl at heart, she was.

Hinata could barely contain her surprised feeling. The dress was astounding, never had she owned something so beautiful. The last time she had even worn a gown was before she ran away from home – her father always did like holding parties and gatherings so she always had to dress for the occasion. _**Gaara-san chose a perfect gown…**_ Suddenly, she had the women's urge to try it on. Losing to the beauty's temptations, she grabbed the box and dashed to her room to change. Unbeknownst to her, a familiar blonde was heading her way as well.

Naruto blew a strand of his hair away as he roughly tugged his tie loose. _**Man, was that meeting boring! Could these people get any less interesting? Hyuuga-san was lucky to have escaped that bore fest early. Hmm, wonder how she's doing… Better go check on her to make sure if she's alright.**_ He slipped in the keycard and opened the door, allowing himself in. He made his way to the fridge and took a cold beverage for himself - Suna was way hotter than Konoha, his body was dying with heat. He took a huge gulp of his canned drink before looking around the hotel room. No sight of his assistant just yet. The blue-haired man walked around the room's grounds, calling her name softly as he did so.

"Hyuuga-san?" he called, opening the door to the bathroom only to have an embarrassing flashback of today's incident. His cheeks burned red and he hastily shut the door – shutting his mind as well before he got any other unwanted thoughts of his assistant. The only room left was the bedroom so he decided to check it. "Hyuuga-san, are you in there?" he called, knocking on the door politely. He then heard a crash occurring inside and a small 'eep' coming afterwards. His azure eyes widened instantly and he opened the door harshly.

"Hyuuga-san! _Daijoubu-… … ka_?"

Naruto thought he had entered a place close to heaven as in front of him, he thought he was face to face with an _angel_. Said angel had a shocked expression herself as they both stared at each other in silence – probably because both were too shocked to even manage to utter a word as well. Naruto gulped, his throat suddenly feeling so dry. She was adorned in the most beautiful gown he had ever seen, the cloth perfectly fitting her curvy body. The soft color complimented her skin perfectly as it seemed to be radiating with beauty. Her hair was tied into a loose bun but it showed her neck nicely and the blonde man couldn't help but trial his eyes slowly – taking in every inch of her perfect appeal. It went lower, and lower, and lower…

_**OH MY GOD! STOP!**_

Naruto's hands covered his eyes instantly as he stumbled back, banging his head onto the door behind him. He slid down, cursing his clumsiness and rubbed his pounding head as he heard the shuffling of feet coming to him. "Uzumaki-sama! _D-Daijoubu ka?"_ He then felt soft skin touching his head as it began moving across his head – trying to find the bump that supposedly had formed after his clumsy act. He then looked up and was eye to eye with the softest lavender eyes he had ever seen. Naruto had never seen such eyes, had never seen such gentleness inside a person's irises, had never drowned inside a pool of misty color and feel so relaxed in it.

"Uzumaki-sama… i-is something wrong?"

Naruto regained his composure and jumped up, startling the poor woman in front of him. "_D-Daijoubu_ Hyuuga-san! _G-Gomen!_ I shouldn't have come in when you were changing! God, I must seem like a pervert even more now… _Honto ni gomenasai_!" and with those rushed words, he ran out without hearing Hinata's response – or if she even did respond. Naruto heaved a deep sigh, slumping on the door behind him and held his hand to his heart. He could feel the frantic beating and how fast it was going.

_**W-Why am I feeling so beat up? I-Its not like I've never seen a woman wearing a dress before! Yeah, no reason to get so worked up just because Hyuuga-san was wearing one! But God, she looked so beautiful in it… So beautiful… And her body… whoa… AH! STOP! You really are turning into a pervert! … I need ramen… now…**_

He wiped his face, it was drenched with beads of sweat covering his tanned face, and stood up. His expression was still dazed and his mind wouldn't stop displaying the image he couldn't erase. He never knew a woman could be so gorgeous… and he never knew a woman's eyes could be so captivating… He turned back to see Hinata's door and heaved a sigh, hoping she wouldn't hate him anymore than she should. Groaning inwardly at his stupidity, he made his way to the kitchen to wash his thoughts away and hopefully, the lustful images he was thinking as well.

On the other side, Hinata was knocking her head on how she had clumsily knocked her make-up bag over and caused Naruto to rush into her room, thus conjuring up another tense moment between them. _**He must feel so horrible for coming in at a wrong time… Maybe I should go talk to him afterwards… explain things to him. I-It wasn't his fault anyway… Oh Kami-sama…**_

_**Can this trip get anymore awkward?**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

Naruto had gone out for awhile that evening which ruined Hinata's plans to explain things to him. She then chose that time to wander around the hotel and see what else was in this majestic building. She had started at the bottom and moved up from there. There were so many rooms provided, she now understood why the hotel was so grand and big. There were even rooms to simply iron your clothes and to groom your pets! Hinata found it rather confusing on why they even bothered with such simple matters and even build a room especially for it.

But the room she found the most interesting was the Suna Mini Gallery the hotel had. The amazing portraits it had – each holding a history that told how Suna could be what it was today. Hinata was astounded by the dedication of the citizens on building the city and improving it. The tales of the great war that had involved every single country brought pride in Hinata for she knew how many people fought bravely in it – not to mention the number of Hyuugas that lost their life in it as well. Including her grandfather.

"Reminiscing on the past, Hyuuga-san?"

Hinata gasped sharply and slowly turned her gaze to the red-haired man standing a few feet away from her. Gaara returned her gaze with his usual direct one and began making his way towards her, his hands tucked nicely into his pockets. "I never knew you were one for history, Hyuuga-san," his voice drawled out. "You get harder to solve by the second."

Hinata bowed with respect and gave what appeared to be a frightened smile. "I-I enjoy learning about a country's history, Gaara-san. I find it quite… i-interesting." Her fingers unconsciously began playing with each other, twirling and sliding against one another. Gaara merely continued looking at her for a few seconds – her body squirming under his mysterious stare – before diverting his attention to the grand painting in front of them – a painting detailing the braveness of the warriors of the war.

"My grandfather fought in this war," he said, his voice thick with his usual tone. "He was said to be one of Suna's bravest warriors – the enemy would quake with fear just by him looking at them. People told me that I had inherited his eyes, even the piercing look he used to have." A pregnant pause followed suit as Hinata debated on whether to reply or not. She was so tempted to agree but at the same time, felt safer if she didn't. So she decided to do both.

"I-I think your eyes are beautiful Gaara-san," She couldn't help but turn a little red by her courage to compliment a man who could easily cause her to babble nonsense if he continued looking at her with those hypnotic eyes. At the corner of her eye, she could see that the red-haired man had turned to face her and he was silent – showing he was interested in what she had to say. The young Hyuuga bit her lip before continuing. "It has it's uniqueness. I-It somehow shines in its o-own way…," _**Oh Kami! Did I really say that? Do I purposely want to die!?**_ Hinata lowered her head, her hair shielding herself from his stare that was still aimed at her.

_**W-Why is it so silent now? I-Is he mad? Is he b-boiling with anger until he can't say anything? Oh no! You did it this time, Hinata no baka! Why couldn't' you have just kept quiet!? Baka! **_

"_Arigatou_, Hyuuga-san. I've never been complimented like that before."

_**Eh!? … W-What did he say? Did he just… t-thank me?**_

Hinata faced him with confusion beheld in her eyes, her cheeks stained a little scarlet from embarrassment. Gaara ignored her questioning gaze and politely bowed before turning to leave. Hinata watched as he left, feeling a little confused yet happy at the same time. Gaara had actually had a decent conversation with her, one which didn't make her feel like she would disappear any second because of him. She allowed a small smile to creep onto her lips, feeling proud at herself for managing to hold a conversation with one of the most stoic men she has ever met.

"Ah, I nearly forgot," interrupted Gaara, swiveling his body back so he was facing her again. "Did you receive the gift I ordered?"

Hinata gasped slightly and bowed once more. "Eh!? Ah… _h-hai_, I-I've received it. _A-Arigatou gozaimasu_."

"Good. You have the details then. I hope you're clear with what you have to do. It's a pretty simple message."

"H-Hai, _wakarimashita_. _Ano_… I have to ask though…," Hinata gulped nervously, hoping he wouldn't explode with anger with her upcoming question. "W-Why me? W-Why do you wish for me to accompany you instead of someone else? That is w-what you want me to do right? B-be your… -gulp- d-date?"

Gaara couldn't help but smirk a little at her jittery attitude. He found her rather adorable when she was blushing while fidgeting and her stuttering behavior was a little cute. A few seconds passed between them, it was spent with their eyes locked with one another. After awhile, Gaara let out a soft sigh and merely bowed again, walking away suit - leaving her alone in the gallery. Hinata heaved a disappointed sigh, knowing that Gaara wasn't mad at her yet he chose to brush her question off. She brushed a lock of her bangs away from her face and gave one last look to the painting – smiling at its beauty once more.

History was very interesting indeed.

* * *

"_Amegakure… perfect place… further studies…"_

"_Parents wanted you… bright future… inherit father's business…"_

"… _Wakarimashita… "_

"_4 years… enough… complete…"_

"… _Hi-! Kami! … forgot… waiting… stop…"_

"_Nani!? Doushte!?"_

"_Hi-! … see her! … before … late!"_

"_Impossible! … departing… time…"_

"_Don't care! … have… tell… feelings! … -click- -click-,"_

"_Oi! … Baka! … back!"_

_Pant. Pant. Pant._

"_Must… tell… love…"_

_Running, running, running._

_BEEP! BEEP!_

"_LOOK OUT!"_

_Bright light. Faint voices. Silence. Darkness._

"_Hi-… gomenasai…"_

"_NARUTO!"_

Naruto woke up with a startle, his breaths coming out in pants and his body drenched with sweat. He sat upright, clutching the sofa to even his breathing. His heart was pounding frantically, it hurt as he felt it quench and tighten inside. He placed his free hand against his smooth chest, gripping his shirt tightly – hoping to ease the thunderous beating even just a little. His eyes were widened with shock on how realistic the dream had felt. He could still remember the voices, the words spoken and the noises as well as the lights.

There had been no people this time, only voices. He could barely hear them but he was sure one of them was him. It felt so real, so painfully real and Naruto couldn't stop remembering the dream. It was so vividly embedded in his mind – the sounds, the feelings, the words… He couldn't stop replaying them in his mind.

_**Wha-What was that…? Another dream? A-A… memory? Something I forgot? Something that happened a long time ago? … Or was it just my imagination? … A nightmare? He gripped the fabric beneath his fingers tightly and his teeth tightened, feeling helpless for some reason. Kuso… what was it!?**_

And then he felt warmth and wetness on his face. His eyes widened as he raised a shaking finger and wiped some of the tears that were falling freely down his eyes. He choked a little, surprised why they were even falling in the first place but as soon as he released a tear, more began falling and soon enough, he was bawling his eyes out. He couldn't stop crying. He didn't even understand why he was in hysterics but his heart quenched so much when he remembered one line that he couldn't stop. His mind replayed that sentence, those words piercing his heart sharper than any knife could. His face was bathed with tears and he held his trembling body as it shook from all the emotions he was pouring out.

He didn't know why he was crying… but he didn't care…

He just let it all go…

"_Hi-… gomenasai…"_

_

* * *

  
_

Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I'll try and make it longer in the future. Ooo, some NaruHina here. I wanted to put some awkward moments in there just for fun! Haha! And a little NejiTen there. It probably wasn't that good because writing Neji is so hard! I can never get him in character! DARN HIM! And I also gave a sneak peek in what happened with Naruto. You guys probably have the puzzle solved already. If not, GOOD! More hints in the future and of course, more NaruHina. It is after all, only the first day of their trip. Two days left! Expect more awkward scenes, more fluff and more crazy twists! You guys know the trick, review if you want me to update faster. Reviews are the fuel to the updating machine in me! ^^ So, **review, review, REVIEW!**

Next chapter: Gaara and Hinata have a little tango lesson and it brings out the jealous beast in Naruto for some reason.

Japanese words:-

- Kami : God

- Onegai : Please

- Gomen / Gomenasai / Honto ni gomenasai : Sorry / Truly sorry

- Sumimasen : Excuse me

- Daijoubu / Daijoubu ka : Alright / Are you alright?

- Baka : Idiot

- Tooi : Far

- Nanda to / Nani : What did you say? / What?

- Teme / Kuso : A curse commonly used amongst Japanese

- Hayaku : Hurry

- Doushte : Why

- Itai : It hurts

- Demo : But

- Mazaka : It can't be

- Hai : Yes

- Arigatou / Arigatou gozaimasu : Thanks / Thank you very much

- Wakarimashita : I understand

_- estrellaz - _


End file.
